There are 284,140 wealthy people in India today, but in the next five years this number is set to increase by 87%, according to a joint report from IIFL Wealth Management and research firm Wealth-X, as reported by FSA‘s sister publication, International Advisor.
The IIFL Wealth Management Wealth Index 2018 predicts there will be 529,940 wealthy Indians by 2023, although it does not make clear the criteria for inclusion.
The current group of wealthy individuals have a combined net worth of INR95trn ($1.3trn), giving them an average of INR334m each.
The report expects the collective wealth of India’s richest individuals to rise to INR188trn by 2021.
Despite this growth, in 2023 India’s wealthy will still only make up around 3.5% of the country’s projected population of 1.43bn.
However, this is an improvement on the current proportion of 2.1%.
In line with these developments, a number of wealth managers have been bolstering their capabilities to service India’s high net worth segment, as reported by FSA.
Earlier this month, Citi Private Bank made two appointments: Varun Chugh as global market manager for the global India business; and Puneet Sanwalka as head of India onshore business. The aim is to capture a larger slice of the wealth management business represented by Indians based locally and abroad.
In January, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management hired three Singapore-based relationship managers dedicated to cover non-resident Indian (NRI) clients to strengthen its South Asia business, as it is seeing strong growth momentum in the NRI segment.
In December last year, meanwhile, Indosuez Wealth Management made a senior bank hire for its NRI division.
Trailblazer
The wealth of India’s ultra-high net worth population is rising at the fifth fastest rate in the world, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7%, according to Wealth-X.
This is set to make the country a “trailblazer among the world’s most powerful fortune builders”, according to the report.
“As India’s super-rich head the wealth league table, their impact will be magnified around the world as they choose increasingly to invest overseas in business and property or to be educated abroad.
“Their luxury spending power is set to explode in capitals from London and New York to Paris and Dubai. The Indian wealth factor has only just begun to come into play,” the report stated.
The most popular investment choices among wealthy Indians are investment funds (31%) and equities (16%), followed by fixed-income (13%) and property (10%).
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