Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: Despite a year of economic uncertainty, financial assets, including stocks, bonds, and other investment funds, globally went up by 8.3% to reach a record $250 trillion in 2020, said a study.
According to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), despite the pandemic's enduring financial impact, global prosperity and wealth grew significantly throughout the crisis and are likely to continue to expand significantly over the next five years, in line with the emerging economic recovery.
Combined with real assets-primarily real estate-and excluding liabilities (such as mortgages), total global wealth rose 7.9% to US$431 trillion, BCG said in its 22nd annual global wealth report.
Many wealth management clients in 2020 embraced alternative investments in their quest for higher returns, shifting away from low-yield debt securities. As part of this trend, real assets, led primarily by real estate ownership, reached an all-time high of $235 trillion. Real assets, in fact, effectively doubled the size of the global wealth pool last year.
According to the report, North America, Asia (excluding Japan), and Western Europe will be the leading generators of financial wealth globally, accounting for 87% of new financial wealth growth worldwide between now and 2025.
Nevertheless, Asia, which has the largest concentration of wealth in real assets ($84 trillion, 64% of the regional total) will see financial asset growth exceed real asset grow...................... To view our full article Click here
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