Sydney sits 14th in world rankings with 765 ultra high net worth individuals: Knight Frank Wealth Report

The world’s rich are on the move… sometimes to Australia where the ultra high net worth individuals are a happy property loving lot.

Ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) have a net worth of over US$30 million, excluding their home. 

Focusing purely on the population of wealthy residents, Knight Frank data confirms that London remains the single biggest centre for global UHNWIs, followed by Tokyo, Singapore and New York. 

Sydney had 765 UHNWIs, with Melbourne on 456. Auckland sits in between on 557.

Perth edged out Brisbane with 267 to 249.

London tops the list with 4634 UHNWIs followed by New York with 3008.

Last year around 15 people a day joined the ranks of the 172,850 ultra-wealthy across the world. 

Only 4% of the UHNWIs who are Australians and New Zealanders were considering a move out of the country, and just 15% were thinking of upgrading their trophy homes.

Australasia seem happiest with their lifestyles, the report concluded.

By contrast, a third of those from Russia and the CIS are considering a move, and over 60% dispatch their children abroad for their secondary education. 

The fifth instalment of The Wealth Report’s annual Attitudes Survey is based on a detailed survey of almost 500 leading private bankers and wealth advisors from across the globe, and reflects the attitudes of their ultra-wealthy clients who have a combined wealth of over US$1.7 trillion.

Covering many aspects of the lifestyles of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those with a net worth of over US$30 million), from wealth creation to philanthropy, from property investments to luxury spending trends, the survey’s findings offer a unique insight into the attitudes of the super-wealthy.

"One of the clear trends to emerge is the increasingly global nature of private investments," the report noted.

"UHNWIs still hold most of their property investments in their own country, but in the vast majority of the locations surveyed, wealthy private individuals have been increasing the amount invested overseas."

Matt Whitby, group director, head of research and consulting at Knight Frank, said there were 1,734 UHNWIs living in Australia in 2014.

“UHNWIs are now an important force in the commercial property world and are operating at all levels – prime, secondary, development and change of use," Matt Whitby added.

"UHNWIs are now looking beyond prime or trophy offices and retail space as a safe haven for their funds; they are prepared to look up the risk curve to non-core locations."

Matt Whitby said over the past decade that Australia was positioned fourth in terms of countries with the greatest foreign inflows of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs), with a gain of 22,000 which represents 14% of the total 158,300 Australian HNWI population. 

UHNWI is defined as someone with a net worth of US$30m or more, excluding their principle residence, while HNWI is defined as someone with a net worth of US$1m or more, excluding their principle residence.

Top 40 most important cities to UHNWIs in 2015

1 London

2 New York

3 Hong Kong

4 Singapore

5 Shanghai

6 Miami

7 Paris

8 Dubai

9 Beijing

10 Zurich

11 Tokyo

12 Toronto

13 Geneva

14 Sydney

15 Taipei

16 Frankfurt

17 Moscow

18 Madrid

19 San Fransisco

20 Vienna

21 Milan

22 Los Angeles

23 Jakarta

24 Munich

25 Amsterdam

26 Mumbai

27 Dublin

28 Johannesburg

29 Istanbul

30 Kuala Lumpur

31 São Paulo

32 Mexico City

33 Berlin

34 Washington DC

35 Boston

36 Cape Town

37 Auckland

38 Buenos Aires

39 Rio de Janeiro

40 Tel Aviv

Source: Knight Frank