600,000 New Millionaires Last Year
The annual World Wealth Report, released Thursday by Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and the Capgemini Group consulting firm, found that there were 8.3 million people worldwide with $1 million or more in financial assets at the end of 2004, up from 7.7 million a year earlier.
Their total wealth rose 8.2 percent to $30.8 trillion in 2004, giving them control of nearly a quarter of the world’s financial assets, according to Petrina Dolby, vice president of Capgemini’s wealth management practice.
The 8.2 percent increase was the strongest since an identical 8.2 percent rise in 1999, she said.
…
Not surprisingly, the expansion of the millionaire class was especially strong in North America because of the solid economic growth last year in both the United States and Canada.
“Significantly, North America surpassed Europe both in total high net worth individuals population and wealth for the first time since 2001,” when North American investors were hard-hit by the bursting of the technology stock bubble and the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Asia-Pacific region also showed strong growth.
At first, I found the Canadian growth surprising, but then I realize that there were probably a good number of mid-level functionaries who benefitted from the rampant corruption.
Hat tip: to ” Say Anything”.
