Global high-net-worth individual (HNWI) wealth grew 8.7 per cent in 2025 to reach a record USD 98.3 trillion — the largest single-year increase since 2018 — with Asia-Pacific emerging as the fastest-growing region for the second consecutive year, according to the 30th edition of the Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2026. The report, based on a survey of 6,510 HNWIs across 27 markets, attributes the acceleration to resilient corporate earnings and sustained AI-driven capital investment in equity markets.
APAC Outpaces Every Other Region
APAC recorded HNWI wealth growth of 10.5 per cent and population growth of 9.4 per cent, ahead of North America (9.9 per cent wealth, 9.1 per cent population) and Europe (8.0 per cent wealth, 6.5 per cent population). AI-linked semiconductor demand drove exceptional market performance across the region, with South Korea’s KOSPI surging 75.6 per cent — the strongest equity index return globally in 2025 — and Taiwan’s TAIEX rising 25.7 per cent on TSMC’s strength. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose nearly 26 per cent, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 18.4 per cent amid optimism around AI and fintech. Hong Kong posted the strongest HNWI wealth growth among major wealth hubs at 13.6 per cent, supported by a 27.8 per cent return on the Hang Seng Index. Singapore recorded HNWI wealth growth of 4.8 per cent, anchored by real GDP growth of 5.0 per cent and a 21 per cent rise in the Straits Times Index.
The ultra-HNWI segment — those with investable assets above USD 30 million — outpaced broader HNWI growth for the second consecutive year, with wealth rising 9.7 per cent and population growing 9.4 per cent. The top one per cent of HNWIs account for 34.8 per cent of total HNWI wealth globally.
The Personalization Gap Widening
Despite the headline wealth growth, the report identifies a deepening structural challenge for traditional wealth management firms. Only 17 per cent of HNWIs describe their advisory experience as seamless and personalised, while 42 per cent report having to restate their goals and preferences multiple times to the same firm. The share of HNWIs working exclusively with a single firm has halved since 2019, falling from 39 per cent to just 19 per cent, while those working with four to six firms has doubled to 25 per cent. The report estimates that between 2022 and 2025, a conservative USD 1.5 trillion in new assets under advice accrued to competitors rather than to traditional wealth management firms.
The report attributes the shortfall to operating models that remain anchored in wealth-band segmentation — 97 per cent of firms still segment primarily by AUM tiers — and relationship managers who spend 41 per cent of their time on operational tasks rather than client engagement. Capgemini argues firms must redesign their operating models around three pillars: broadening alternative investment access, empowering relationship managers as orchestrators, and embedding augmented intelligence as the unifying infrastructure layer.
“In our 30 years of tracking global wealth, 2025 represents an exceptional moment for the size of the world’s population of high-net-worth individuals and the assets they control. For the industry, this is a clear inflection point: between 2022 and 2025, an estimated USD 1.5 trillion in new assets flowed to competitors of traditional firms.” — Kartik Ramakrishnan, CEO, Financial Services Strategic Business Unit, Capgemini
