Billionaires' wealth fell by $388 billion globally to $8.539
trillion, the UBS/PwC Billionaires Report found, with a
particularly sharp decline in Greater China - the second-biggest
home for billionaires after the United States - and the
Asia-Pacific region more broadly.
Private banks including the world's largest wealth manager UBS
have felt the effects of U.S.-China trade tensions and global
political uncertainties, as clients last year shied away from
trading and taking on debt in favor of hoarding more cash.
The net worth of China's richest dropped 12.8% in dollar terms
on the back of tumbling stock markets and a weaker local
currency and as growth in the world's second-largest economy
slowed to its lowest level in nearly three decades in 2018, the
report found, knocking dozens off the billionaires list.
Despite the drop, China continues to produce a new billionaire
every 2-2.5 days, UBS's head of ultra-high net worth clients,
Josef Stadler, said in the report released on Friday.
Worldwide, the number of billionaires fell everywhere except in
the Americas, where tech entrepreneurs continued to buoy the
ranks of the United States' wealthiest.
"This report shows the resilience of the U.S. economy," where
there were 749 billionaires at the end of 2018, said John
Matthews, head of private wealth management and ultra-high net
worth business for UBS in the United States.
While a stock market recovery from a steep drop in late 2018 has
helped wealth managers increase their assets, the world's
richest families remain concerned about global affairs from
trade tensions and Brexit to populism and climate change and are
continuing to keep more of their money in cash.
"It is likely that billionaire wealth will go up again this
year," said Simon Smiles, UBS's chief investment officer for
ultra-wealthy clients, adding it would likely be a more muted
increase than the wider financial market rally might suggest.
(This story officially corrects headline and first paragraph and
removes quote to make clear it was first decline in three years,
not in a decade)
(Reporting by Angelika Gruber and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi;
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Dilts and Sumeet Chatterjee;
Editing by Mark Potter)
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