The rich are getting richer

The ultrarich shattered many records last year, buying notable works of art, shiny baubles and sleek toys. A rare 1967 Ferrari Spider went for $27.5 million. Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucien Freud sold for $142.4 million. And 12 bottles of 1978 Domain de la Romanée-Conti, described by one expert as “as close to perfect as wine gets”, landed in someone’s collection for a cool $476,405.

The world’s club of ultrawealthy individuals, or those with $30 million or more in net assets, added about 5,000 new members last year and now stands at around 167,000, according to the latest Wealth Report, an annual compendium of all things rich from Knight Frank, the property management firm.

Over the last decade, the ranks of the über-rich have swelled by 59 per cent, and the register of billionaires climbed 80 per cent, to 1,682, according to Knight Frank’s data.

And most of the world’s 0.1 percenters had a pretty good year; three-quarters said their assets had increased. Only 4 per cent said they wound up worth less, according to the survey, which polls 600 private bankers and wealth advisers who represent more than 23,000 clients.

While the United States, Japan and Germany are still home to more millionaires and billionaires than other countries, wealth is growing rapidly in the Middle East, Latin America, Australasia and Africa. By 2023, China is expected to have 322 billionaires, more than Britain, Russia, France and Switzerland combined.

Looking for some place to park their wealth, the world’s rich still prefer property. In commercial real estate, wealthy families and individuals are buying hotels, office towers in Brussels and retail properties in Poland.

Demands for vineyards, especially those in France, have also been on the rise, the report notes. Among the biggest buyers? The Chinese.

A hotly debated proposal in Malta would allow the country to sell passports for $893,000 with no residency requirement.

Spain and Portugal are offering residency in return for spending only limited time in the country. Experts expect Latvia and Estonia to follow suit.

And while London remains the hot spot for the world’s wealthy, New York is forecast to surpass the British capital by 2024, thanks to its increasing importance to ultra-wealthy Chinese and other Europeans.

If the wealthy made a mistake en masse last year, it was holding gold, which fell about 28 per cent. Respondents in the survey said they would probably reduce their stake in the metal this year.

The ultrarich, however, continue to collect jewellery, watches and wine, while the biggest jump in popularity went to art.