Thu, Feb 09, 2023 page12

• Super-rich in Taiwan upbeat on wealth gains

  OPTIMISM: Only 26% of high-net-worth individuals in Taiwan saw their wealth increase last year, but nearly 80% expect better prospects for this year

  • By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
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  Nearly 80 percent of Taiwan’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) are looking at wealth gains this year, with real-estate investment most likely to win their attention and inflation topping their list of risks, a survey by property consultancy REPro Knight Frank Taiwan showed yesterday.

  The findings made super-rich Taiwanese more optimistic than their global peers, only 68 percent of whom are upbeat about wealth increase, research director Howard Zhan (詹宗煌) told a news conference in Taipei, defining UHNWIs as people with investable assets in excess of US$30 million.

  Despite the financial turmoil and economic headwinds, 40 percent of super-rich people worldwide last year saw their assets increase, with 17 percent posting gains of more than 10 percent, Zhan said.

  

  A wealth management adviser talks to a customer at a bank in Taipei on Dec. 28, 2004.

  Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times

  That meant the remaining 60 percent saw their assets contract.

  Taiwan’s UHNWIs fared worse last year, with only 26 percent seeing their wealth increase and 74 percent suffering losses, the survey showed.

  Asked about risks ahead, 67 percent of the world’s super-rich named inflation as the biggest downside risk, followed by interest rate hikes at 59 percent, geopolitical tensions at 53 percent and recession at 13 percent, Zhan said.

  As for opportunities, 46 percent of global UHNWIs favored investing in real estate, followed by technology businesses at 33 percent, equity markets at 28 percent and fixed-income products at 15 percent, the survey showed.

  Real estate is the most favored option, because of its resilience to inflation, Zhan said.

  Taiwan’s very wealthy people lag behind their regional and global peers in terms of real-estate investment appetite, with only 13 percent saying they intend to buy residential properties this year, compared with 16 percent for the Asia-Pacific area and 15 percent globally, Zhan said.

  Taiwan’s UHNWIs own an average of 2.9 houses, compared with an average of 4.9 houses among their regional peers and 4.2 houses globally, the survey found.

  In addition, 40 percent of the super-rich in Taiwan prefer owning real-estate properties overseas, higher than 26 percent among their peers in the region and 28 percent globally, it said.

  Japan is the most popular target at 58 percent, followed by the US at 47 percent, Canada at 37 percent and Australia at 21 percent, the survey showed, adding that Singapore, Vietnam and the UK also rank high with more than 10 percent.

  REPro Knight Frank Taiwan general manager Cliff So (蘇銳強) said that the ban on transfers of presale house contracts would make developers more cautious about launching new products and slow overall residential property transactions.

  Demand for factory and office buildings would remain strong as companies shift production bases back to Taiwan, So said.
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