According to a report, the top 1 per cent of India's richest people have invested 60 per cent of their wealth in real estate and gold. According to a report by American wealth management firm Bernstein, this category of 'wealthiest citizens' includes Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNI), High Net Worth Individuals (HNI) and the wealthy class, who constitute only 1 per cent of Indian families but control about 60 per cent of the country's total wealth.
Serviceable & Non-Serviceable Assets
The report says that this class has a total wealth of $11.6 trillion. India's total household wealth is estimated at $19.6 trillion, of which $11.6 trillion or 59 percent is held by this class of population. Of this, only $2.7 trillion is invested in serviceable financial assets that can be actively managed or reallocated, such as mutual funds, equity, insurance, and bank or government deposits. According to the report, the remaining $8.9 trillion is invested in non-serviceable assets, which include gold, cash holdings, promoter equity and physical real estate.
Assets Under Management
The report highlights the immense potential for asset management firms to grow their Assets Under Management (AUM) over the next decade as India's affluent class seeks ways to diversify their portfolios beyond gold and real estate. The report highlights how this wealth segment has low access to formal wealth management services, and a large portion of financial assets remain unmanaged. In its previous report, Bernstein had noted that specialised wealth managers currently account for just 11 per cent of India's liquid financial asset pool.
There are about 35,000 UHNIs in India whose net worth is more than $12 million (Rs 100 crore). The average wealth value of these households is $54 million (Rs 472.5 crore), including financial assets worth $24 million (Rs 210 crore).
