Member Article

London is the most important global city for the rich - Knight Frank

London has beaten New York as the most important global city for ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), according to the annual Knight Frank Wealth Report.

The City Wealth Index identifies the cities that matter to the ultra-wealthy by analysing four critical measures of current wealth, investment, connectivity and future wealth. Using this methodology, London emerges just ahead of New York overall with top scores for both investment and connectivity; while New York leads on both current and future wealth.

From a European perspective London is the only European city in the top 10; and with the exception of Moscow and London, all European cities score lower for future than for current wealth.

Liam Bailey, Head of Global Research at Knight Frank, which has offices in Leeds, Sheffield and Harrogate, commented: “The global economic powerhouses of London and New York dominate the rankings due to their well-established lead over other cities. However looking ahead, future wealth concentrations and investment firepower look set to be dominated by a tussle for supremacy between Asian and North American cities.”

The third and fourth largest concentrations of wealth, Hong Kong and San Francisco, are likely to be eclipsed by the rising fortunes of Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, which are all expected to see their wealthy populations grow rapidly over the next decade.

Meanwhile the world’s UHNWIs are more likely to be motivated by personal enjoyment than any other factor, when making investments on luxury assets such as such as art, wine or classic cars.

Based on the views of the world’s leading private bankers and wealth advisors, Knight Frank’s latest annual Attitudes Survey sheds light on the outlook for the world’s UHNWIs - those with $30m in assets or more.

Respondents listed ‘personal enjoyment’ as the main reason their clients acquiring luxury assets, investing for ‘status’ and ‘finding a safe haven for capital’ next most popular reasons for luxury asset ownership.

Data from the latest edition of The Wealth Report also revealed: • UHNWIs from the United Arab Emirates are most likely to own a motor or sailing yacht • Private jet ownership is more prevalent amongst UHNWIs from Saudi Arabia • UHNWIs from the United Arab Emirates are most likely to own a race horse as part of their luxury asset portfolio

Andrew Shirley, Wealth Report Editor, says: “Personal enjoyment was considered the number one reason why UHNWIs collect and buy luxury assets, according to the respondents who took part in The Wealth Report Attitudes Survey this year. Often that pleasure is clearly connected to one of our senses – the taste of a great bottle of Bordeaux, the visual beauty of a Van Gogh, the sound of a gurgling V8 or rasping V12 engine – but sometimes it’s more to do with our bank balance or our ego.

“Some of these objects of desire also turn out to be shrewd investments so it’s no surprise then that ‘capital appreciation’ is now the second-most-important motivating factor when making a purchase – although many people still find it hard to understand the rationale for buying wine when you have no intention of drinking it.

“Although ‘personal enjoyment’, ‘status’ and ‘finding a safe haven for capital’ remain the most popular reasons for luxury asset ownership, the chance to become part of a community of like-minded collectors is a growing attraction for UHNWIs,” he added.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert Beaumont .