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In the financial services industry, a high-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a person who maintains liquid assets at or above a certain threshold. Typically the criterion is that the person's financial assets (excluding their primary residence) are valued over US$1 million.[1][2] A secondary level, a very-high-net-worth individual (VHNWI), is someone with a net worth of at least US$5 million.[1] The terminal level, an ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI), holds US$30 million in investible assets (adjusted for inflation).[3] Individuals with a net worth of over US$1 billion are considered to occupy a special bracket of the UHNWI.[2][4] These thresholds are broadly used in studies of wealth inequality, government regulation, investment suitability requirements, marketing, financing standards, and general corporate strategy.
As of December 2024[update], it was estimated that there are just over 16 million HNWIs in the world, according to the World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 by Henley & Partners.[unreliable source?] The United States had the highest number of HNWIs (6.0 million) of any country, with California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois domiciling the majority stateside. New York City is the wealthiest and most populous city, with 385,000 HNWIs.[5] UHNWIs constitute only 0.003% of the world's population, yet hold 13% of the world's total wealth.[6] In 2017, 226,450 people were designated as UHNWI, with their combined total wealth increasing to $27 trillion.[7]
United States: SEC regulations
[edit]The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires all SEC-registered investment advisers to periodically file a report known as Form ADV.[8] Form ADV requires each investment adviser to state how many of their clients are "high-net-worth individuals", among other details; its Glossary of Terms explains that a "high-net-worth individual" is a person who is either a "qualified client" under rule 205-3 of the Advisers Act (currently a person with at least $1,100,000 managed by the reporting investment adviser, or whose net worth the investment adviser reasonably believes exceeds $2,200,000 without counting their primary residence) or who is a "qualified purchaser" as defined in section 2(a)(51)(A) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act mandates that the definition of a qualified client be reviewed every five years and adjusted for inflation.[9] For SEC purposes, a person's net worth may include assets held jointly with their spouse. Unlike the definitions used in the financial and banking trade, the SEC's definition of HNWI includes the value of a person's verifiable non-financial assets, such as a primary residence or art collection.[10]
Annual World Wealth Report
[edit]The World Wealth Report was co-published by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, previously known as Cap Gemini Ernst & Young who worked together since 1993, investigating the "needs of high-net-worth individuals" to "successfully serve this market segment". Their first annual World Wealth Report was published in 1996.[11] The World Wealth Report defines HNWIs as those who hold at least US$1 million in assets excluding primary residence and UHNWIs as those who hold at least US$30 million in assets excluding primary residence.[12]
The report states that in 2008 there were 8.6 million HNWIs worldwide, a decline of 14.9% from 2007. The total HNWI wealth worldwide totaled US$32.8 trillion, a 19.5% decrease from 2007. The UHNWIs experienced the greater loss, losing 24.6% in population and 23.9% in accumulated wealth. The report revised its 2007 projections that HNWI financial wealth would reach US$59.1 trillion by 2012 and revised this downward to a 2013 HNWI wealth valued at $48.5 trillion advancing at an annual rate of 8.1%.[12] The "World Ultra Wealth Report", on UHNW populations—those with "$30m or more in net worth"—which was published on June 27, 2017, "this year revealed global growth of 3.5% to 226,450 individuals and a 1.5% increase of their total combined wealth to $27 trillion."[7]
The 2018 World Wealth Report[13] was jointly produced by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management and included, for the first time, the Global HNW Insights Survey produced in collaboration with Scorpio Partnership.[14] The inaugural survey represented one of the largest and most in-depth surveys of HNWIs ever conducted, surveying more than 4,400 across 21 major wealth markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.
| Region | HNWI population (millions) |
HNWI wealth (trillions USD) |
Wealth per person (millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global | 23.413 | 90.475 | 3.864 |
| North America | 8.448 | 29.927 | 3.542 |
| Asia-Pacific | 7.591 | 26.920 | 3.546 |
| Europe | 5.706 | 19.000 | 3.330 |
| Middle East | 0.879 | 3.545 | 4.033 |
| Latin America | 0.587 | 9.158 | 15.601 |
| Africa | 0.202 | 1.925 | 9.530 |
The World Wealth Report has estimated the number and combined investable wealth of high-net-worth individuals as follows (using the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation Calculator):[15]
| Year | Number of HNWIs (millions) |
Total wealth of HNWIs (trillions USD) |
Wealth per person (millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 8.579 | 32.773 | 3.820 |
| 2009 | 10.043 | 38.957 | 3.879 |
| 2010 | 10.872 | 42.725 | 3.930 |
| 2011 | 10.963 | 42.004 | 3.831 |
| 2012 | 11.975 | 46.222 | 3.860 |
| 2013 | 13.730 | 52.623 | 3.833 |
| 2014 | 14.650 | 56.403 | 3.850 |
| 2015 | 15.365 | 58.668 | 3.818 |
| 2016 | 16.515 | 63.460 | 3.843 |
| 2017 | 18.083 | 70.168 | 3.880 |
| 2018 | 18.023 | 68.101 | 3.779 |
| 2019 | 19.608 | 73.961 | 3.772 |
| 2020 | 20.838 | 79.576 | 3.819 |
| 2021 | 22.459 | 85.978 | 3.828 |
| 2022 | 21.711 | 82.919 | 3.819 |
| 2023 | 22.828 | 86.790 | 3.802 |
| 2024 | 23.413 | 90.475 | 3.864 |
Markets
[edit]Certain products cater to the wealthy, whose conspicuous consumption of luxury goods and services includes, such as: mansions, yachts, first-class airline tickets and private jets, and personal umbrella insurance.[16] As economic growth has made historically expensive items affordable for the middle-class, purchases have trended towards intangible products such as education.[16] In the United States, concierge medicine is an emerging trend as of 2017.[17]
Banking and finance
[edit]Most global banks, such as Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, and UBS, have a separate business unit with designated teams consisting of client advisors and product specialists exclusively for UHNWI. These clients are often considered to have characteristics similar to institutional investors because the vast majority of their net worth and current income is derived from passive sources rather than labor. By 2006, asset managers working for HNW individuals invested more than ￡300 billion on behalf of their clients. These wealth managers are bankers who in 2006, earned multimillion-pound salaries and owned their own companies and equity funds.[18] In 2006, a list of the 50 top investment bankers was published by the Spear's Wealth Management Survey.
Other
[edit]Certain magazines, such as Monocle,[19] Robb Report,[20] and Worth, are designed for a high net worth audience. By 2012, according to Reuters, the UHNW individuals held $32 trillion in offshore havens, representing $280 billion in lost income tax revenues.[21] Brands in various sectors, such as Bentley, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce actively target UHNWI and HNWI to sell their products. In 2006, Rolls-Royce researchers suggested there were 80,000 people in ultra-high-net-worth category around the world. UHNW individuals "have, on average, eight cars and three or four homes. Three-quarters own a jet aircraft and most have a yacht."[22]
Number of UHNWIs by city
[edit]There are three sources compiling these statistics for cities: the most recent data is from Altrata, which found that the four cities with the highest number of ultra-high net worth individuals, as of 2023, were New York City (16,630), Hong Kong (12,546), Los Angeles (8,955), and Tokyo (6,445).[23] Below are previous rankings from Wealth-X and the Knight Frank Wealth Report:
|
|
The World Ultra Wealth Report 2013 was co-published by Wealth-X and UBS. The fifth edition of the report was published on June 27, 2017.[7] Previous World Ultra Wealth Reports were published independently by Wealth-X, in 2011 and 2012 respectively:
UHNW characteristics
[edit]| Net worth tier US$ millions |
2013 | 2012 | 2012–2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers of UHNWs |
Total wealth US$ billions |
Numbers of UHNWs |
Total wealth US$ billions |
Increase in numbers of UHNWs |
Increase in Total wealth | |
| $1000+ | 2,170 | 6,516 | 2,160 | 6,190 | 0.5% | 5.3% |
| $750 to $999 | 1,080 | 929 | 990 | 855 | 9.1% | 8.7% |
| $500 to $749 | 2,660 | 1,695 | 2,475 | 1,560 | 7.5% | 8.7% |
| $250 to $499 | 8,695 | 3,420 | 8,090 | 3,225 | 7.5% | 6.0% |
| $200 to $249 | 14,185 | 3,205 | 13,500 | 3,035 | 5.1% | 5.6% |
| $100 to $199 | 23,835 | 3,780 | 22,290 | 3,335 | 6.9% | 13.3% |
| $50 to $99 | 60,760 | 4,720 | 56,205 | 4,295 | 8.1% | 9.9% |
| $30 to $49 | 85,850 | 3,505 | 81,670 | 3,280 | 5.1% | 6.9% |
| Total | 199,235 | 27,770 | 187,380 | 25,775 | 6.3% | 7.7% |
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 2014 Global Wealth Report[27] shows that liquid wealth of the super-rich, referenced as Ultra-High-Net-Worth households, had increased by 20% in 2013. BCG uses a household definition of UHNW, which places only those with more than $100 million liquid financial wealth into the UHNW-category, more than the usual $30 million, with which the ultra-category had been created in 2007. They control 5.5% of global financial wealth. 5,000 of them live in the US, followed by China, Britain and Germany. BCG expects the trend toward more concentrated wealth to continue unabated. While financial wealth of the sub-millionaires is expected to increase by 3.7% annually until 2019, the expected growth rate for the super-rich is 9.1%.
67.7% of the world's UHNW population was self-made, 8.5% have fully inherited their wealth and 23.7% have both inherited and self-made wealth according to a 2018 report.[28] According to the same report, twenty-three percent of self-made UHNW individuals have derived their wealth in finance, banking and investment, 8.5 percent in consumer and business services and 7.6 percent in real estate. The share of inherited and self-made wealth varied by country.[29]
Number of UHNWIs by country
[edit]The following is a list of the countries with the most Ultra high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI), as of 2023 as per the 2024 Knight Frank's Wealth Report, which it defines as person having net worth of $30 million or more.[30] In South Africa, the term HNWI is often used by SARS to target affluent taxpayers for increased compliance and lifestyle audits.[31]
| Country | Number of UHNWIs (2023) |
Growth | % of total |
|---|---|---|---|
 United States |
225,077 | +7.9% | 35.9% |
 China |
98,551 | +3.3% | 15.7% |
 Germany |
29,021 | +1.1% | 4.6% |
 Canada |
27,928 | +2.0% | 4.5% |
 France |
24,941 | +0.2% | 4.0% |
 United Kingdom |
23,072 | +3.1% | 3.7% |
 Japan |
21,710 | +0.3% | 3.5% |
 Italy |
15,952 | +3.8% | 2.5% |
 Australia |
15,347 | +2.9% | 2.4% |
 Switzerland |
14,734 | +5.2% | 2.4% |
 India |
13,263 | +6.1% | 2.1% |
 Spain |
10,149 | +1.7% | 1.6% |
 Netherlands |
8,390 | +0.2% | 1.3% |
 Taiwan |
7,640 | -0.3% | 1.2% |
 South Korea |
7,310 | +5.6% | 1.2% |
 Hong Kong
|
5,957 | +2.5% | 1.0% |
 Singapore
|
4,783 | +4.0% | 0.8% |
 Sweden
|
4,125 | +2.5% | 0.7% |
 New Zealand
|
2,587 | +2.9% | 0.4% |
 Norway
|
2,276 | +1.1% | 0.4% |
 Austria
|
2,167 | +0.3% | 0.3% |
 Turkey
|
1,932 | +9.7% | 0.3% |
 Ireland
|
1,890 | +0.4% | 0.3% |
 Indonesia
|
1,479 | +4.2% | 0.2% |
 Finland
|
1,269 | +4.1% | 0.2% |
 Thailand
|
889 | +0.8% | 0.1% |
 South Africa
|
835 | -1.3% | 0.1% |
 Portugal
|
800 | +3.0% | 0.1% |
 Malaysia
|
754 | +4.3% | 0.1% |
 Vietnam
|
752 | +2.4% | 0.1% |
| World | 626,619 | +4.2% | 100.0% |
| Other | 51,039 | +0.1% | 8.1% |
UHNWI role in economies
[edit]UHNWIs are notable players in the field of philanthropy; many have their own private foundations and support a variety of causes, from education to poverty relief. Financial institutions are known for their targeting of UHNWIs, having specific parts of their bank designed to manage the wealth of their UHNW clients.[3] In addition, research on the UHNW is particularly important with upcoming intergenerational wealth transfers in the UHNW population.[32] For example, as of 2014, luxury companies typically target UHNW as a separate segment of their clientele. Daily Finance in 2014, projected that growth in Asia's UHNW population looked promising for the future of the luxury industry.[33]
The India's Economic Times said in 2014 that, despite the luxury industry's troubled year with China's luxury spenders, luxury industry experts continued to be optimistic for their long-term performance, especially from UHNWIs.[34] According to Savills and Wealth-X, in 2014, UHNWIs are particularly relevant to the real estate sector, with the total UHNW population's real estate holdings accounting for over US$5 trillion by 2014, or 3% of the world's real estate holdings. This is a huge proportion considering this population is only 0.003% of the world's population.[35]
See also
[edit]- Economic inequality
- Global assets under management
- Plutonomy
- Politically exposed person
- Professional
- List of countries by wealth per adult
- Senior management
- Wealthy peasant
References
[edit]- ^ a b Investopedia Staff (19 April 2020). "High-Net-Worth Individual (HNWI)". Investopedia. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ a b "World Wealth Report 2020" (PDF). Capgemini. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ a b Grzeskiewiecz, Grzegorz; Tomasz Kozlinski (15–17 June 2004). "High Net Worth Individuals: The Clients of Private Banking" (PDF). 8th International Conference of Doctoral Students. Brno University of Technology (Czech Republic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
- ^ Neate, Rupert (2025-08-14). "Number of global ultra high net worth individuals hits record high". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ "World's Wealthiest Cities Report 2025". 2025.
- ^ Investopedia Staff (2025-08-14). "Ultra High Net Worth Individual (UHNWI)". Investopedia. Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ a b c "The World Ultra Wealth Report 2017". Exclusive UHNWI Analysis (5 ed.). June 27, 2017. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
- ^ "SEC.gov - Form ADV". www.sec.gov.
- ^ "Order Approving Adjustment for Inflation of the Dollar Amount Tests in Rule 205-3 Under the Investment Advisers Act" (PDF). SEC.gov / Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ "17 CFR § 230.501 - Definitions and terms used in Regulation D." LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ 2003 World Wealth Report (PDF) (Report). Capgemini. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- ^ a b 2009 World Wealth Report (Report). Thought Leadership. Capgemini. 2009. Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ a b c "World Wealth Report".
- ^ "The Scorpio Partnership". Archived from the original on 2025-08-14.
- ^ "Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation Calculator". U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- ^ a b Currid-Halkett, Elizabeth. "Conspicuous consumption is over. It's all about intangibles now". Aeon Ideaslanguage=en. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ Schwartz, Nelson D. (2025-08-14). "The Doctor Is In. Co-Pay? $40,000". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ Rivkin, Annabel (12 December 2006). "How I make the rich richer". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- ^ Neate, Rupert (November 11, 2017). "Wealth: Monocle: you've seen the magazine – now buy the apartment". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ Post Staff Report (December 8, 2014). "Magazines for the mega-rich". New York Post. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ "Super rich hold $32 trillion in offshore havens". Reuters. July 22, 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ^ Ray Hutton (5 November 2006). "Rich spurn ultra-luxury cars". UK: The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- ^ Robert Frank (July 19, 2024). "The ultra-wealthy just gained $49 trillion in wealth thanks to stocks". CNBC. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
New York has the world's largest population of people worth $30 million or more, with 16,630. Hong Kong ranked second, with 12,546, followed by Los Angeles with 8,955 and Tokyo with 6,445.
- ^ "Ranked: The Top 10 Global Cities, by Ultra-Wealthy Population". www.visualcapitalist.com. 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Map: Cities With the Most Ultra-Rich Residents". www.visualcapitalist.com. 8 March 2019.
- ^ Wealth-X and UBS. World Ultra Wealth Report 2013 (Report). pp. 20–25. Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ "Global Wealth 2014: Riding a Wave of Growth". www.bcg.com. Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ Clifford, Catherine (26 September 2019). "Nearly 68% of the world's richest people are 'self-made,' says new report". CNBC. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ Ingraham, Christopher (6 February 2019). "People like the estate tax a whole lot more when they learn how wealth is distributed". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ "Mapped: Where Do the Wealthiest People in the World Live?". www.visualcapitalist.com. 12 June 2024.
- ^ "SARS ramps up scrutiny on wealthy individuals". Moneyweb. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Foster, Lauren (5 February 2014). "Why Financial Advisers Need to Use Social Media". Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- ^ Kelesidou, Fani (5 March 2014). "Why High-End Luxury Brands Are Losing Their Luster". Daily Finance. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
- ^ PTI (5 March 2014). "Luxury industry optimistic about January–March quarter: Wealth-X survey". India Times: Economic Times. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ Savills and Wealth-X (2014). Around the World in Dollars and Cents (PDF). p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
External links
[edit]- 2019 World Wealth Report (WWR) (PDF) (Report). Capgemini. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
- AfrAsia Bank - Global Wealth Migration Review 2019 (Report). ISSUU. 2018. Retrieved 2025-08-14.