Asia likely to overtake US millionaire wealth next year

Wealth among Asia-Pacific millionaires may top North America’s as soon as next year as Japanese economic growth boosts investor returns in the country, according to a report by Cap Gemini SA and Royal Bank of Canada.

Asians with at least US$1mil in investable assets are expected to see their riches climb to US$15.9 trillion by 2015 from US$12 trillion last year, according to the 2013 Asia-Pacific Wealth report, released yesterday. North American high net-worth individuals held US$12.7 trillion in 2012.

Japan, the world’s best-performing major stock market this year, accounts for more than half of Asia’s millionaires and will drive regional prosperity as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic stimulus policies aim to reverse 15 years of deflation, the report showed. The country last year posted a 5.2% expansion in millionaire wealth, the slowest among 18 Asian countries tracked in the study.

“Despite its lacklustre growth in recent years, Japan remains a strong force in the market,” the report stated. Improved market prospects may encourage rich Japanese “to shift their asset allocation from cash to equities, spurring further wealth growth in mature Asia.”

Asia-Pacific millionaires expanded their assets at an annual rate of 4.9% in the five years to 2012, three times faster than expansion in North America, home to the largest concentration of millionaire wealth, according to the report.

The number of high net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific region grew 9.4% to 3.68 million last year. – Bloomberg