India sees 4% spike in high-net-worth individuals amid sharp global drop

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) The number of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in India grew by 4 per cent to 3,19,900 last year, as their wealth increased by 2.9 per cent to hit $1,286.7 billion, a report showed on Thursday.

India's unemployment rate also showed a significant decrease from 16.9 per cent in 2021 to 7 per cent in 2022, according to the report by technology major Capgemini.

"Agility and adaptability are going to be key for high-net-worth individuals as their attention gears towards wealth preservation. The industry will need to fortify value, empower relationship managers, and unlock new growth opportunities to remain relevant," said Nilesh Vaidya, Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets, Capgemini.

"Their success will be tied towards solving issues relating to digital immaturity in the wealth value chain," he added.

According to the report, the global HNWI population declined by 3.3 per cent to 21.7 million in 2022, with their wealth decreasing by 3.6 per cent to $83 trillion.

This is the largest drop in a decade, attributed to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.

Despite economic uncertainty, where only 23 per cent of HNWIs declared having generated more returns from environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related assets, they still express a continued interest in ESG products with 41 per cent of respondents rating investing for ESG impact as a top priority.

About 63 per cent of HNWIs reported they had requested ESG scores for their assets.

However, not many wealth management firms see ESG data analysis (52 per cent) and traceability (31 per cent) as a top priority.

The report also cited that expanding the pool of potential wealth management clients is now an imperative to help drive long-term growth across the industry.

The affluent segment now presents a new frontier as this population continues to grow in size and financial clout.

Regionally, North America (46 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (32 per cent) hold the largest share of global affluents in wealth value and population size, the report noted.

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