Equities and real estate products have recorded strong growth recently, driven by the Singaporean government’s strong economic and fundamental policies

Thursday 12 September 2013, Amsterdam

At the end of 2012, there were just over 283,000 HNWIs in Singapore collectively holding US$857 billion in wealth. This equated to 85.7% of the total individual wealth held in the country. Singaporean HNWIs outperformed the global average over the last five years with HNWI numbers increasing by almost 100% compared to the 0.3% decline worldwide. In 2012, Singapore HNWI numbers rose by 21.7%, following an increase of 4.2% in 2011. Growth in HNWI wealth and volumes are expected to improve over the coming years. The total number of Singaporean HNWIs is forecast to grow by 59% to reach over 291,579 in 2017. HNWI wealth is projected to grow by 63% to reach US$1.39 trillion by 2017.

In 2012, real estate was the largest asset class for HNWIs in Singapore (32.4% of total HNWI assets), followed by business interests (25.0%), equities (16.8%), cash (10.5%0, fixed-income (10.2%) and alternatives (5.2%). Equities and real estate products recorded the strongest growth over the last 5 years, driven by strong economic and fundamental policies of the Singapore government. The value of business interests decreased slightly in the same period of time, from 26.5% of Singapore HNWI assets in 2008 to 25.0% in 2012. Over the next 5 years, HNWI holdings in cash and fixed-income are expected to decline further as an asset class. After the recent substantial growth, equities and real estate holdings are expected to decrease drastically. As of 2012, HNWI assets amounted to US$152 billion, representing 17.8% of the wealth holdings of Singaporean HNWIs.

The geographic distribution of HNWI investments

At the end of 2012, Singaporean HNWIs held 35.2% (US$301 billion) of their wealth outside their home country, which is above the global average of 20-30%. At the same time, Asia-Pacific accounted for 40.8% of the foreign assets of Singaporean HNWIs. This was followed by Europe with 30.6%, North America with 12.5%, South America with 11.1%, Africa with 3.8% and the Middle East with 1.2%. Due to unsettled conditions in the US economy following the financial crisis, the share allocated to North America is quite low compared to Europe, but altogether investments to North America increased from 3.4% in 2008 to 12.5% in 2012.

UHNWIs – Volume and Wealth Trends

There were 3,867 UHNWIs in Singapore in 2012, with an average wealth of US$86 million per person, making them a prime target group for wealth sector professionals. Of this total, there were 14 billionaires, 947 centimillionaires and 2,906 affluent millionaires. UHNWIs account for 2.1% of the total HNWI population of Singapore, which is above the global average of 0.7%. Over the last 5 years, the number of UHNWIs in Singapore more than doubled, from 1,891 individuals in 2008 to 3,867 in 2012. This was slightly higher than the increase of 99.8% recorded by core HNWIs.

There was a wide range of performance between the different UHNWI wealth bands in this period. The number of billionaires increased significantly by 67%, while the number of centimillionaires and affluent millionaires also increased by 118% and 101% respectively.

Wealth Management in Singapore

The global private banking industry was estimated to have assets under management (AuM) of over US$19.3 trillion at the end of 2012. With a total AuM figure of around US$1.29 trillion increasing by 22% a year as revealed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore is recognized as one of the primary asset management destination in Asia. With a presence of over 4,000 multinational-company headquarters from wide-ranging industries and regions in Singapore, there is a high level of demand for the wealth management industry.


This report offers:
•In depth analysis of the state and distribution of wealth throughout Singapore.
•A segmented breakdown of the demographics of HNWIs including job titles, industries, locations and the performance thereof.
•A detailed look into the trends between Singapore’s UHNWIs.
•An analysis of Singaporean HNWI investments broken down by asset class as well as a look into foreign investments.
•A look into the competitive landscape of the Wealth Sector in Singapore.


This will facilitate:
•The increasing of your knowledge of the HNWI and UHNWI community within Singapore.
•The formulation and implementation of business strategies.
•A proper understanding of industry and market trends.
•An evaluation of competitive risk and success factors.


Target audience
•Wealth management companies.
•Suppliers to wealth management companies.
•Contractor research organizations.
•Trade body, academia or other industry observers.
•Companies involved at any stage in the manufacturing, procurement and marketing process.