Singapore households 10th richest in the world: Allianz report

Singapore households 10th richest in the world: Allianz report

SINGAPORE - Singapore took 10th spot in a global ranking of the world's wealthiest households based on per capita net financial assets.

The top spot was taken by Switzerland, followed by the US and UK. Japan ranked sixth, and Taiwan was eighth.

The Allianz Global Wealth Report looks into the asset and debt situation of households in over 50 countries.

It found that Singapore's total financial asset growth last year was 4.5 per cent, dampened by the negative performance of the stock market. But as loan growth also slowed to 2.4 per cent, the rise in net financial assets was relatively strong at 5.7 per cent.

Based on growth rate, Singapore was in the middle of 10 Asian countries whose net financial assets growth ranged between minus 5 per cent in Thailand and 18.7 per cent in China. Among Asian countries, Singapore ranked third in terms of per capita net financial assets.

According to the study, Singapore households had gross financial assets per capita of 114,160 euros (S$173,117).

The report believes that the good years may be over in terms of the trajectory of asset growth. Global financial assets rose 4.9 per cent in 2015, just a whisker above the growth rate of economic activity.

In the three previous years, financial assets grew at twice that pace, or an average rate of 9 per cent.

Allianz chief economist Michael Heise said: "The development of financial assets has reached a critical juncture. Obviously extreme monetary policy is losing its impact even on asset prices. As a consequence, an important driver for asset growth no longer exists.

"At the same time, interest rates continue their remorseless slide, even into negative territory. For savers, the outlook is not rosy."


This article was first published on September 22, 2016.
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