Wealth in the US: Sizing the Market Opportunity

Wealth in the US: Sizing the Market Opportuni

Summary

The US is home to the largest affluent population in the world and hosts a very advanced financial services sector, including the most sophisticated mutual fund and equity markets globally. The large affluent population is financially literate with high retail participation in both equities and mutual funds. US wealth managers thus have a lucrative target market onshore. In the future, growth in the affluent population’s liquid assets will be pronounced compared to other developed economies. At the end of 2015, nearly two thirds of the US adult population was considered affluent, making the US home to the largest affluent population in the world. This compares very favorably to Western Europe, the second-largest wealth market in the world, where only 20.1% of the population is considered affluent.

Key Findings

• High net worth (HNW) individuals account for 1.8% of the US population, and their numbers are expected to swell by nearly 7% year-on-year to 2019. Ultra-high net worth individuals (those with over $10m in assets) are expected to increase by over 10%.
• The US retail investments market remains buoyant, but growth slowed significantly throughout 2014 and 2015, largely due to outflows of equities following a bumper year for the stock market in 2013. Against an uncertain economic backdrop, bonds are already bouncing back and are predicted to record 4% year-on-year growth to 2019.
• HNW individuals are now allocating 28.1% of their investible assets outside of traditional investments, with hedge funds the most popular alternative option in 2015 and private equity a relatively close second.
• Offshore investment continues to decrease (now at 6.1%) following the onset of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), with client anonymity and tax efficiency the key drivers.

Synopsis

Verdict Financial’s “Wealth in the US: Sizing the Market Opportunity” analyzes the American wealth and retail savings and investments markets, with a focus on the HNW segment. The report is based on our proprietary datasets.

Specifically the report:

• Sizes the affluent market (both by the number of individuals and value of their liquid assets) using our proprietary datasets.
• Analyzes which asset classes are favored by American retail investors and how their preferences impact the growth of the total savings and investments market.
• Examines HNW clients’ attitudes towards non-liquid investments such as hedge funds, property, and commodities.
• Identifies key drivers and booking centers for offshore investments by HNW clients.

Reasons To Buy

• Benchmark your share of the US wealth market against the current size of the market.
• Forecast your future growth prospects using our projections for the market to 2019.
• Identify your most promising client segment by analyzing penetration of affluent individuals in the US.
• Evaluate your HNW proposition by understanding how FATCA is affecting your HNW clients.
• Review your offshore strategy by learning HNW motivations for offshore investments and their preferred booking centers.