Indian millionaires zoom by 42,800

India added more than 42,800 US dollar millionaires last year, taking the total number in the country to more than 127,000 — and the phenomenon is only going to grow further as high economic growth is sustained.

What’s more, India, China and other Asia-Pacific regional economies are collectively set to outpace developed countries in spawning high net-worth individuals (HNIs), wealth manager Merrill Lynch and consulting firm Capgemini said in a report released on Tuesday.
“Moving forward, China and India will lead the way in the region with economic expansion and HNI growth likely to keep outpacing more developed economies” it said.
The Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2010 noted that the total amount held in assets by Indian millionaires accounted for more than $477 billion last year, up 53.6 per cent on the year. That is R21.5 lakh crore.
“The increasing confidence by Indian HNIs facilitated by the strength of the underlying economy which grew 6.8 per cent in 2009 has resulted in a surge in HNI wealth in the region,” said Pradeep Dokania, chairman, Merrill Lynch, Wealth Management, India.
Asia-Pacific as a whole outpaced Europe in the amount of wealth on play as the invested/investible corpus totalled $9.7 trillion, compared with Europe’s $9.3 trillion, it added.
“Asia-Pacific’s HNI population matching Europe’s for the first time highlights the region’s growth potential, with China and India at the forefront and Japan remaining an important market,” said Dokania.
The share of real estate dropped in 2009, while fixed-income investments went up. Equities and cash assets remained stable.