If You Are Prospecting for Sales Leads, Want to Know Where the Millionaires Are?

If you are prospecting for sales leads and millionaires are being targeted, it is helpful to know where they are concentrated. It also is wise to target potential clients in markets that are often overlooked or underserved such as Generation X and women investors. That’s where you can build your base, build your reputation and establish a pipeline for referrals.

Credit Suisse reported an estimated 36 million millionaires in the world today. The United States has the most millionaires, but the number of millionaires across the world has increased by 155% since the millennium. Approximately 51% of the world’s millionaires reside in North America and the remaining 49% can be found in other regions. According to projections, the United States will continue to have most millionaires and ultra high net worth individuals (those with a net worth of over $50 million).

Facts and Numbers

Where are the rest of the world’s millionaires? Here is data collected by Knight Frank in 2017 which presents the number of millionaires in various cities across the world.

• In Europe, London has the highest number of millionaires (357,200), followed by:
  Frankfurt, Germany (128,300), Paris, France (110,900), Zurich, Switzerland (109,200), Geneva, Switzerland (104,300), Munich, Germany (78,900), Moscow, Russia (68,20), Rome, Italy (64,300), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (42,600), and Brussels, Belgium (34, 700).
• In Asia, the most millionaire reside in Tokyo, Japan (279,800), followed by: Hong Kong (227,900), Singapore (217,300), Beijing, China (122,100), Osaka, Japan (117,700), Shanghai, China (117,600), Seoul, South Korea (108,100), Taipei, Taiwan (76,700), Mumbai, India (46,100), and Shenzhen, China (31,400).
• In the Middle East, Dubai, United Arab Emirates has the highest number of millionaires (50,400), followed by: Tel Aviv, Israel (35,200), Istanbul, Turkey (27,300), Dohar, Qatar ( 25,800), Abu Dhabi, UAE (17,100), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (16,200), Tehran, Iran (14,000), and Jerusalem, Israel (13,100).
• In North America, New York City, New York, USA has the highest number of millionaires (339,200), followed by: the Bay Area, California, USA (180,300), Los Angeles, California, USA (173,300), Toronto, Canada (109,300), Miami, Florida, USA (31,600), Washington, DC, USA (31,200), and Vancouver, Canada (31,100).
• In Latin America (South and Central America), the highest number of millionaires reside in Mexico City, Mexico (86,700), followed by: Sāo Paulo, Brazil (64,500), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (35,300), Buenos Aires, Argentina (15,400), Bogota, Colombia (14,900) and Santiago, Chile (10,800).

In its Annual Wealth Report, Credit Suisse ranked the nations with the most millionaires, as follows:

1. United States, 13,554,000
2. Japan, 2,826,000
3. United Kingdom, 2,225,500
4. Germany, 1,637,000
5. France, 1,617,000
6. China, 1,590,000
7. Italy, 1,132,000
8. Canada, 1,117,000
9. Australia, 1,060,000
10. Switzerland, 716,000
11. South Korea, 679,000
12. Spain, 386,000
13. Taiwan, 356,000
14. Belgium, 307,000
15. The Netherlands, 287,000
16. Sweden, 285,000
17. Austria, 217,000

Keep in mind that the numbers don’t always tell the full story. For example, Istanbul is expected to experience a 22% drop in its millionaire population over the next decade and the United Kingdom already lost over 406,000 people from its millionaire ranks attributed to the effects of Brexit. Conversely, the number of millionaires grew by 85% in Australia since 2006, in large part due to its hot real estate market, and in the United Arab Emirates by 70% as this nation continues to focus on attracting wealthy individuals. Other gains were posted by: Russia (19.7%), Indonesia (13.7%), The Netherlands (13.7%), Norway, (13.1%), Thailand (12.7%), Sweden (12.6%), Taiwan (11.9%), Canada (11.3%), Brazil (10.7%), and France (10.7%), according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2017.

Untapped Opportunities for Financial Advisors

As for some of the categories of millionaires on the rise, entrepreneurs in Hong Kong were cited as providing “tremendous untapped opportunity” by UBS’ Regional Market Manager in Hong Kong Jean-Claude Humair. Then there is Generation X; individuals who will become the next generation to hold the largest amount of wealth as their Baby Boomer parents begin their transfer of wealth, and before the Millennials take over. Gen X has been looked over as wealth managers focused on Baby Boomers who have already accumulated wealth. Not only is Gen X the next fertile ground for wealth managers, the global accounting firm of Deloitte predicts that this generation will experience the highest increase in share of wealth through 2030.

Based on women investors statistics, women investors also present a strong opportunity for wealth managers. Did you know, for instance, that women’s wealth constitutes 30% of all global wealth? Additionally, women’s wealth is projected to grow 7% faster than men’s over the next five years and projected to reach $18 trillion by 2021. Despite this, much of the marketing and sales efforts of many wealth managers and investment advisors is focused on male investors. The Centre for Talent Innovation reported that 67% of female investors feel that their wealth manager or private banker does not understand their goals or needs. For those wealth managers who are diligent in their discovery process with their prospective female clients, and who get to know and serve them well, this market could be very promising.

The Capgemini World Wealth Report 2017 predicted that assets held by high net worth investors will exceed $100 trillion by 2025, up from its 2016 figure of $63.5 trillion. Wealth has grown largely due to the strong performance in wealth manager’s portfolios. Capgemini reported wealthy investors have high levels of trust and confidence in their wealth managers. These professionals are those who have earned their clients’ trust by providing a high level of personal service, backed by access to a robust suite of high quality investment products managed in a balanced portfolio. They can further build their client base and revenues by also being strategic in targeting other millionaires and high net worth investors in key markets, including those that have not garnered the full attention of the industry such as Generation X, female investors and the growing crop of entrepreneurs, particularly in the Asian markets.