India’s rich list shrinks by a third in 2008

[Naveed Yaseen]

MUMBAI: The number of rich in India shrunk by nearly a third in 2008, the fastest drop in the world after Hong Kong, as a stunning 52 percent fall in local shares hurt the net worth of individuals, a study showed on Thursday.

At 2008-end, there were 84,000 high net worth individuals, defined as those with net assets over $1 million excluding their main home and everyday possessions, down 31.6 per cent from 2007, a Merrill Lynch/Capgemini World Wealth Report showed.

This marks the first drop in the number of rich in India in at least seven years, Pradeep Dokania, head of global wealth management at DSP Merrill Lynch told reporters in Mumbai.

The world’s rich lost a fifth of their wealth in 2008 and their number fell 15 per cent as the financial crisis wiped out two years of growth, the report showed. The value of the world’s wealthy dropped below 2005 levels to $32.8 trillion. This has lead to a loss of trust in wealth management firms and advisors. More than a fourth of those surveyed by the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini said they withdrew assets or left their wealth advisors in 2008.

However, things were showing signs of improvement and rich individuals in countries like India were now more inclined to add risk to their portfolios, Dokania added.

Merrill Lynch/Capgemini predicts financial wealth of the rich would surge nearly 48 per cent to $48.5 trillion rupees by 2013, led by Asia-Pacific whose wealthy individuals would control $13.4 trillion, the highest by any region.

Dokania said number of India’s rich, among the top-20 in the world now, will also grow rapidly, providing a huge market for wealth management firms.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=185006