Vietnam forecast to see growing number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals by 2025

Vietnam will see more and more ultra-high-net-worrth individuals by 2025

By 2025, Vietnam will have 50 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) with a net worth of at least $30 million each and 25,812 high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) with assets of at least $1 million, says The Wealth Report 2021 put out by Knight Frank.

The report pointed out that Vietnam’s number of ultra-wealthy people declined slightly due to the impact of the pandemic, dropping from 405 people in 2019 to 390 people in 2020.

Globally, China saw the fastest growth in UHNWI population with a 15.8 per cent growth rate, followed by Sweden and Singapore.

Knight Frank's current report said that the number of HNWI decreased by 6 per cent globally last year, from 20,645 to 19,149.

To join the wealthiest 1 per cent in Vietnam, an UHNWI needs to have a net wealth of $160,000. Singapore is Asia’s highest entry, marginally ahead of Hong Kong, with the level of wealth required being $2.9 million and $2.8 million, respectively. South Korea and the Chinese mainland set the barrier at $1.2 million and $850,000, respectively.

With lower interest rates and more fiscal stimulus, asset prices have surged, driving the world’s UHNWI population 2.4 per cent higher over the past 12 months to more than 520,000. The process was seen across North America and Europe, but it was Asia with its 12 per cent growth that saw the real upswing. The expansion in wealth was not universal, with a fall in the number of UHNWIs in Latin America, Russia, and the Middle East as currency shifts and the pandemic undermined local economies.

The US is, and will remain, the world’s dominant wealth hub over the forecast period, but Asia will see the fastest growth in UHNWIs over the next five years, at 39 per cent compared with the 27 per cent global average. By 2025, Asia will host 24 per cent of all UHNWIs, up from 17 per cent a decade earlier. The region is already home to more billionaires than any other (36 per cent of the global total). The Chinese Mainland is the key to this phenomenon, with 246 per cent forecast growth in very wealthy residents in the decade to 2025.

Wealth Report pointed out that equities, which accounted for about a quarter of the portfolios of the super-rich, were a major driver of their wealth in 2020 as being in lockdown gave them time to better monitor the stock markets.

In March last year, most stock markets crashed by around 30 per cent, but they had since then bounced back, particularly in the US. The S&P 500, for instance, had rallied by 70 per cent.

“Anyone able to time equity sales or acquisitions in line with market movements would have benefited significantly,” the report said.