Author: Aoife Moriarty
The cities with the highest percentage of millionaires have been revealed for the first time ever by Spear’s, in association with leading wealth consultancy company WealthInsight.
The new study shows that in city-state Monaco you are only ever a stone’s throw from a millionaire – with almost a third of the population classed in this financial bracket. Not far behind are Swiss banking centres Zurich and Geneva in second and third place, with key financial centres New York and Frankfurt in fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile London has the sixth highest percentage of millionaires of any city, with 3.39 per cent – that’s one in thirty – of its population a millionaire or above. There are a total of 281,000 millionaires based in the capital.
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WealthInsight defines ‘millionaires’ as individuals with net assets of US$1 million or more, excluding their primary residences.
Editor of Spear’s Josh Spero says: “It’s no surprise that London has so many millionaires – it is a magnet for home-grown and foreign talent in every field and where the wealthy come to enjoy their money.
“But London’s continued success is not guaranteed, and big issues like membership of the EU and how we tax our citizens and businesses will determine whether we have more millionaires or fewer in the future. We also always need to bear in mind that having millionaires isn’t itself a good thing if it means inequality – which is damaging to everyone – goes up too.”
WealthInsight Analyst Oliver Williams adds: “Favourable tax and outstanding location are important criteria for attracting clusters of millionaires, but so too is ready access to wealth managers and private banks. Switzerland’s two financial hubs of Zurich and Geneva are traditional havens of private banking, but so too is London, the world’s third largest home of millionaires.”
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But there is much more to London than just easy access to finance, says Williams: “What millionaires particularly love about London is its political stability and heritage. Owning a piece of history in a city such as London is an aspiration for many, particularly wealthy individuals from overseas.”
A ranking like this is important, says Williams, “because wealthy individuals, more than any other group, will change their home and even their domicile based on these factors”.
TOP 20 GLOBAL CITIES BY MILLIONAIRE DENSITY – FULL BREAKDOWN:
1. Monaco (29.21%)
2. Zurich (27.34%)
3. Geneva (17.92%)
4. New York (4.63%)
5. Frankfurt (3.88%)
6. London (3.39%)
7. Oslo (2.90%)
8. Singapore (2.80%)
9. Amsterdam (2.63%)
10. Florence (2.59%)
11. Hong Kong (2.58%)
12. Rome (2.54%)
13. Dublin (2.40%)
14. Doha (2.31%)
15. Toronto (2.29%)
16. Venice (2.25%)
17. Brussels (2.11%)
18. Houston (2.09%)
19. San Francisco (2.07%)
20. Paris (2.04%)
