World's Wealthiest People
Flocked to Stocks Last Year
The secret of wealth in 2003? Stocks, stocks and more stocks.
According to the latest World Wealth Report, a study conducted by consulting firm Capgemini Group and brokerage house Merrill Lynch & Co. and scheduled for release today, the wealthy last year poured a large portion of their more conservative cash and bond holdings into riskier assets, such as stocks, increasing their fortunes. (See related article.)
In addition to stocks, the world's wealthy also put money into hedge funds, private-equity funds, and collectibles such as art and wine. Real-estate holdings edged up to 17% from 15% in 2003.
The population of people with financial assets of more than $1 million surged by 14% in the U.S. last year and more than 7% globally, according to the report. World-wide, the report found 70,000 "ultra high net worth" individuals -- those with more than $30 million in financial assets.
The biggest driver of wealth was stocks. After being early to exit stocks in 2001, the wealthy were fast to re-enter equity markets last year. High net-worth individuals last year increased their stock holdings to 35% of their portfolios, up from 20% in 2002. Their cash holdings fell to 10% from 20% in 2002, the report says.
"High-net-worth individuals in the U.S. have been extremely agile in anticipating market movements," said James Gorman, president of Merrill Lynch's Global Private Client Group. "In 2001 to 2002, they used fixed-income investments to limit the downside of a falling stock market, and last year they returned to equities in a big way."
The investment returns on cash and bonds last year were only slightly above 1% last year, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and Dow Jones Industrial Average both jumped more than 20% and the Nasdaq Composite Index soared 45%, the report says.
The shift into stocks represents a broader move among wealthy investors away from low-yielding investments that preserve wealth toward those that are more risky and designed to increase wealth. Between 2002 and 2003, 48% of high-net-worth individuals around the world increased their appetite for risk.
The total fortunes of high-net-worth individuals in North America swelled to $8.5 trillion in 2003 from $7.4 trillion in 2002. The wealthy in the U.S. outpaced the rest of the world in financial gains last year, with financial millionaires in Europe gaining $300 billion and Asia gaining $600 billion.
European investors remained more conservative last year, missing some of the gains in the U.S. and fast-growing emerging markets.
European investors retained the bulk of their investments at home, the report says. Latin American investors, perhaps reacting to continued political and financial uncertainties at home, placed most of their money in offshore tax havens in the Caribbean and Uruguay.
Foreign stocks were especially popular among the North American wealthy last year. North American high-net-worth individuals doubled their foreign holdings, though those holdings remain small compared to other assets.
Investors in Hong Kong and Singapore are the most globally diverse, spreading their assets from Japan to Kazakhstan to the U.S., according to the report.
Alternative investments, especially hedge funds, have become increasingly popular among the world's wealthy. In 2003, European investors more than doubled their holdings in hedge funds. The intense interest in hedge funds -- lightly regulated investment vehicles for wealthy investors and institutions -- could indicate that the segment may be overheating.
The booming wealth of the wealthy is also creating strong demand for wealth-advisory services, like financial planning, trust-and-estate advice and generational planning.
股票投资让全球富翁财富大增
2003年财富世界的秘密何在？股票，股票，还是股票。
今天发表的题为《全球财富报告》(World Wealth Report)的最新研究结果显示，富人们去年把手头相当一部分的现金和债券转向股票等风险性更高的资产，使他们的财富大大增值。这项研究是由咨询公司Capgemini Group和证券业的美林公司(Merrill Lynch & Co., MER)联合进行的。
除了股票，全球的富人们还把钱投入对冲基金、私募基金以及艺术品和酒等收藏品。房地产的投资比率也从上年的15%提高至17%。
报告显示，去年，美国拥有100万美元以上金融资产的人群数量上升了14%，全球同期上升了7%以上。从全球范围来看，有7万人拥有巨额财富，他们的个人金融资产净值超过3,000万美元。
股票是创造财富的最大推动力。富人们在2001年急于退出股市，而去年又忙不迭地重新入场。报告称，那些拥有巨额财富的人去年把股票的投资比率从上年的20%提高至35%，而所持现金的比重从上年的20%跌至10%。
美林旗下Global Private Client Group的总裁詹姆斯?戈尔曼(James Gorman)说，那些拥有高额财富的美国人在预见市场走势上特别敏锐。在2001年和2002年，他们通过投资于固定收益市场来减小股市下滑对他们造成的影响，而去年他们又大举重返股市。
报告显示，现金和债券去年的投资回报率仅略高于1%，而标准普尔500种股票指数以及道琼斯工业股票平均价格指数同期的涨幅均超过了20%，那斯达克综合指数更是飙升了45%。
转向股票的投资趋势表明富人们不再追求保值型的低收益投资方式，而是热衷那些风险更高的增值型投资方式。2002和2003年间，48%的拥有巨额财富的人增大了投资的风险度。
去年，北美拥有巨额财富的人资产总额从上年的7.4万亿美元升至8.5万亿美元。其中美国富人的财富增长幅度首屈一指，而欧洲和亚洲的富翁分别增长了3,000亿美元和6,000亿美元。
欧洲投资者去年依然比较谨慎，因此错过了美国市场和发展迅猛的新兴市场上的一些机会。
报告显示，欧洲投资者的大部分投资仍停留在当地。而拉丁美洲的投资者也许是因为对本地区政治和金融形势持续动荡的担忧，把大部分钱财都投入了加勒比海和乌拉圭的避税天堂。
外国股票去年得到了北美投资者的青睐。北美拥有巨额财富的人所持的外国股票规模虽然与其他资产相比仍是小巫见大巫，但较上年也增加了一倍，。
香港和新加坡的投资者最具全球化视野，他们的资产从日本到哈萨克到美国，遍布全球。
其他投资，特别是对冲基金，正日益受到富人们的追捧。去年，欧洲的投资者所持的对冲基金头寸增长了两倍。市场对对冲基金的兴趣之浓厚或许表明，该领域有点过热了。
富人们不断膨胀的财富也导致了对诸如财务规划、信托和不动产咨询等理财服务的需求日渐增强。
