A new study found
that Indian High Net Worth numbers increased by 55% from 152,000 in 2007 to
236,000 High Net Worth Individuals in 2015. Their combined wealth rose by 67%,
from $0.9 trillion in 2007 to $1.5 trillion in 2015.
New World Wealth, a
regular source of data and insight for these columns, has just come up with new
research conducted over eight years. It started in 2007, just before the global
financial crisis, and finished in 2015, when most countries were experiencing
negative or negligible growth.
“Millionaires” or
“HNWIs,” High Net Worth Individuals” refer to individuals with net assets of a
million or more dollars.
The study found that
growth was positively impacted by local construction, financial services, IT,
business process outsourcing and the healthcare sectors.
Solid economic growth
and increased levels of entrepreneurship helped.
The research found the
negative impacts on growth were a 41% depreciation of the local currency
against the dollar from approximately $39.4 at the end of 2007 to $66.2 at the
end of 2015. Also there was a 25% dollar drop in the local stock market
index between 2007 and 2015.
There was also a
migration of around 25,000 HNWIs out of India between 2007 and 2015.
The study gave India
scores out of ten on indices that encourage the growth of wealth in a
nation.
On strong ownership
rights, the most critical component of wealth growth, India scored 9/10. On
good economic growth, India also scored 9/10, with GDP growth of 7.3% in 2015.
Growth of 7.4% is forecast for 2016. The study awarded 5/10 on India’s banking
system and stock market. It said,
“India’s stock market
is under-developed considering the size of the country – as a result many
Indian companies list offshore. The banking system is also under-developed,
especially with regards to wealth management offerings.”
New World Wealth gave
8/10 to India on the freedom of its media, though some would counter that much
of the Indian media is owned by large business houses that do tend to take a
view.
On the level of
government intervention, India scored only 5/10 with its excessive government
regulations. The study says these are a hurdle for new businesses in India.
“Corruption is also a major problem – businesses often need to pay regular
bribes to government officials in order to operate successfully. This problem
has improved over the past year since Prime Minister Modi took office.”
On having a low
income tax and company tax rates, India scored 6/10.
The study gave 3/10
for the ease of investment. It says, “there is a lack of transparency in
several parts of the Indian economy and the cost of starting a business in
India is very high. India also ranks as one of the worst countries in the world
for the ability to enforce a contract, taking an average of 1,420 days.”
New
World Wealth says that growth in Indian wealth and volumes is expected to be
vigorous over the next 10 years.
The group expects the
number of Indian HNWIs to grow by 135%, to get to roughly 554,000 by 2025.
This will render
India one of the top five performing high net worth growth markets during this
period, along with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, China and Mauritius.
The study predicts
the growth will be fueled by growth in the local financial services,
professional services and media sectors.
Head of Research at
New World Wealth, Andrew Amoils, told me,
“The Indian fine art market is growing. India generated fine
art turnover of $49 million in 2015, making it the 12th largest fine art market
in the world. This figure was up by over 110% on the previous year.
Christie’s is the largest
auction house in the country and has been holding a major annual auction in
Mumbai since 2013. Christie’s 2015 Mumbai auction generated $15 million in
turnover, with a painting by Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde selling for $4.4 million (a
record for an Indian painting).
Leading Indian artists
include: Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde, Nasreen Mohamedi, Nandalal Bose,
Gaganendranath Tagore, Francis Newton Souza, Amrita Sher-Gil, Tyeb Mehta,
Jehangir Sabavala and Maqbool Fida Husain.
The group found that
at the end of 2015, there were 14,800 multi-millionaires living in India, each
with net assets of $10 million or more. It also found that there were 6,020
UHNWIs there, each with assets of $30 million or more. It found 760
centi-millionaires living in India, each with assets of $100 million or more.
Finally, it caught 85 billionaires living in India, each with assets of $1
billion or more.
The study found that
only three counties have more billionaires than India; USA, China and the UK.
But 10 countries have more millionaires than India.
Representative
Image
Source:
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get more such news in feed, like our page ‘Facet’A TV, radio and print reporter-producer, Rani speaks several Asian languages and regularly travels across the region. She has written for Forbes India as well as Forbes.com.
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