"Despite the threat of recession and market retrenchment, the wealthy are still with us. While investable assets have been hit by the downturn in equity values, the level of assets continues to rise. Indeed, though the rate of growth in the numbers of HNWIs has slowed in the last 12 months, conservative estimates believe 180,000 new HNWIs joined the elite club of those with more than US$1 million in investable assets in 2000. These HNWIs were partly responsible for adding some US$2 trillion to the global asset pool controlled by that group. And though their growth rate has declined sharply from the more than one million new millionaires that were created in 1999, the number of HNWIs may now exceed more than 10 million individuals worldwide2.
"Clearly, it remains an attractive market, and the slowdown has not affected the number of institutions – whether established or new – entering this market."
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jeff