World gains nearly 1 million new millionaires, mostly in Asia

The world gained approximately 920,000 new millionaires last year, bringing the total to 14.6 million millionaires. Those millionaires are worth a collective $56.4 trillion, according to the 19th annual World Wealth Report, which management consulting corporation Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management released today. High net worth individuals are defined here as people with investable assets of at least $1 million in U.S. dollars, excluding their primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.

2014 was the sixth consecutive year of growth for the High Net Worth market, with robust equity returns and economic performance enabling wealth to grow by about seven percent.

George Lewis, the group head for RBC Wealth Management and RBC Insurance

North America continues to rank No. 1 in terms of its millionaires’ total wealth — $16.2 trillion compared with the Asia-Pacific region’s $15.8 trillion — but Asia-Pacific is expected to take the lead in that statistic by the end of this year. Another change last year was seen in the asset classes in which millionaires invest their wealth, with equities becoming the preferred asset class instead of cash.

Increased exposure to equities indicates a slowly expanding appetite for risk as High Net Worth Individuals show comfort in equities taking up a larger portion of portfolios, as asset values rise.

Andrew Lees, Capgemini Global Financial Services’ global sales officer

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