Survey Finds Drop In HK Multi-millionaires

A new survey suggests Hong Kong has seen a 15 percent drop in the number of multi-millionaires, to 434,000.

Citibank on Tuesday said it arrived at this number after carrying out a telephone survey in the final few months of last year involving 3,786 people aged between 21 and 79.

The bank said around one in 13 adults in the city had net assets of at least HK$10 million, plus liquid assets of HK$1 million.

The 2021 figure means there were 81,000 fewer multi-millionaires than the 515,000 recorded in 2020.

Josephine Lee, head of retail banking for Citibank Hong Kong, said this drop was in part because of market volatility, citing the Hang Seng Index which saw a loss in 2021.

However, Lee said some of Citibank’s multi-millionaire clients managed to maintain their wealth by diversifying their investment portfolio.

“If you look at the 10-year trend, no matter the multi-millionaire population, their net assets or their liquid assets, actually we see there is a progressive increase,” she added.

Citibank also found that about one in five multimillionaires surveyed were confident about investing in the Greater Bay Area, particularly in property.