Super-rich in Asia to 'reach 2.67 mn by 2015'

The number of super-rich in Asia is set to reach 2.67 million people by 2015 with a net worth of an estimated $16.7 trillion, Swiss private bank Julius Baer said on Tuesday. The findings, announced in its 2012 Wealth Report focusing on Asia, indicated that the region's High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) were largely immune from the economic ills affecting the rest of the world. This was because of Asia's economy, which continued to grow thanks to "domestic demand supported by robust job growth", the bank said in a statement. Announcing its the survey, which focuses on wealth creation in 10 of Asia's biggest economies, Julius Baer also said that its HNWI estimate for 2015 represented a 30-percent increase from 2010 forecasts. China could be home to 1.46 million super-rich by 2015 with assets of $9.3 billion, the report showed. Indonesia was on course for a 25-percent HNWI increase -- the highest across Asia, thanks to its "flourishing domestic business environment". In India, wealth creation was driven by labour moving out of agriculture and by improvements in infrastructure, the report indicated. China continued to see growth by redistributing its economic activity, it added. The report, which also looked at how much it costs to live in luxury in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mumbai, showed an 8.8 percent rise in prices since the last report. This "shows clearly that the cost of living in luxury in Asia continues to substantially outpace conventional Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures, which stood at approximately 6% for the same time period", the report said.