Mumbai:
The number of high net worth Indians grew the second
fastest in the world in 2006 with a 20.5-per cent rise
amidst a strong performance by stocks and property markets,
a study by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini showed.
The
number of high net worth individuals (HNWI), with a net
asset of at least $1 million, increased by 20.5 per cent
to 100,015 in India last year, second only after 21.2
per cent growth in Singapore, according to the World Wealth
Report released by Merrill Lynch and CapGemini.
Besides
India, countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China
, Germany, Russia , the UK and the US also have more than
one lakh people with at least one million dollars in net
assets, excluding their primary residence and consumables.
The
number of Indian millionaires stood at about 83,000 in
2005.
China,
with GDP growth of 10.5 per cent in 2006, saw a 7.8 per
cent increase in HNWIs to 3,45,000, from 3,20,000 a year
ago.
In
the US, the HNWI population expanded by 9.4 per cent in
2006, up from 6.8 per cent in 2005, while compensating
for a deceleration in HNWI growth in Canada , which fell
from 7.2 per cent in 2005 to 6.9 per cent in 2006.
The
HNWI population in the US grew to 2,920,000 in 2006, from
2,669,000 a year ago.
The
worldwide population of HNWIs increased by 8.3 per cent
to 9.5 million, while their collective wealth rose by
11.4 per cent to $37.2 trillion in 2006, it says.
The
world''s wealthiest 9.5 million people - an 8.3 per cent
rise in 2006 - had assets worth $37.2 trillion, it said.
The
rising population of millionaires in India and the rest
of Asia is pushing many global banks such as Standard
Chartered, BNP Paribas and Citigroup to recruit heavily
to service the fast-growing clientele, which also pays
huge fees for advisory services.
"The
region continued to benefit from the combined effects
of strong underlying fundamentals and incremental portfolio
and direct investment into Asian economies," said
Pradeep Dokania, managing director at DSP Merrill Lynch.
Among
the rich, real estate is one of the most favoured asset
classes, the study showed.
In
Asia-Pacific, 29 per cent of rich peoples'' assets was
in the form of real estate, up from 16 per cent a year
earlier.
While
noting that the BRIC nations (Brazil , Russia, India and
China) were playing increasingly important roles in the
global economy, the report said that two of these four
countries made their way into the list of the 10 fastest
growing HNWI populations in 2006.
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