The World’s Richest Are Getting Richer Again

A resilient global economy is leading to a rise in wealth once again for the world’s richest individuals, despite plenty of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, according to a new report.

Globally, the population of those with at least US$1 million in investable assets rose by 5.1% last year to 22.8 million, while their wealth rose 4.7% to US$86.8 trillion, according to the 28th annual World Wealth Report from Capgemini Research Institute, a global think tank division of Paris-based Capgemini.

It’s a sharp difference from a year earlier, when global wealth fell 3.3% to US$83 trillion.

The growth trend was particularly evident in the U.S. last year, where economic resilience, slowing inflation, and soaring U.S. stocks led to a 7.3% increase in the population of those with at least US$1 million in investable assets to 7.5 million, Capgemini said. The wealth of these individuals rose 7% to US$26.1 trillion.

“We are back in business,” says Elias Ghanem, global head of Capgemini Research Institute for Financial Services. “It’s a good message for the economy, it’s a good message for the people, and it’s a good message that growth is back on stage.”

Among the ultra wealthy—those with at least US$30 million in investable assets—the global population rose by 5% to 220,000, while their wealth grew by 3.9% to about US$29.4 trillion. That represents 34% of total global wealth, according to Capgemini.

A big reason for the upturn in wealth was a strong recovery in global stocks, and the fact that the wealthy moved their assets out of cash and cash equivalents. Globally, this population’s average allocation to cash was 34% as of January 2023; by January this year, cash allocations dropped to 25% on average.

“There’s a move in the high-net-worth mind from wealth preservation back to growth, and that’s good,” Ghanem says.

Although average global stock allocations dropped to 21% as of January this year from 23% a year earlier, the wealthy boosted their allocations to fixed-income by 5 percentage points to 20%, to lock in higher rates, Ghanem says. They also moved money into real estate as prices declined, increasing that investment, on average, by 4 percentage points to 19%.

“As interest rates went up, the real estate to be sold increased, and thus the price went down, and high-net-worth individuals leveraged the opportunity to invest,” Ghanem says. That investment has a positive ripple effect on the broader economy, he says.

The wealthy also boosted their allocations to alternative investments, mostly private equity and private credit, by 2 percentage points to 15%. That’s money that funds the private sector, where businesses are engaged in creating industries and products “that are essential to transforming our economy,” Ghanem says.

The message all these moves make: “Money is circulating again and money circulating is growth for everyone,” he says.

Capgemini’s annual report doesn’t predict the future, but the shifts in asset allocation point to a new perspective by the wealthy that takes into account the shocks of the recent past, from the pandemic, to inflation, and war.

“The business environment has considered these factors and is able to manage them,” Ghanem says.

Whether China reopens for business remains “a big question mark,” however, he says. Though the Nasdaq stock index in the U.S. gained 43% in 2023, after tumbling 34% a year earlier, the Shanghai Stock Index posted a decline of 3.7% last year, better than a nearly 15% drop a year earlier, but still sluggish.

As a result, Asia has yet to regain its status as the world’s wealthiest region—which it was from 2017-19, on the strength of growth in both China and India, Ghanem says.

The report was based on a survey of 3,119 individuals (including more than 1,300 ultra-wealthy) living in 26 markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, the firm said.

The findings are aimed at wealth management firms serving these elite populations across the globe. Among the uber-wealthy, Capgemini warns these firms have competition from family offices that are better positioned to orchestrate non-financial services, such as education or travel, and to bargain among banks to get the best deals, and services. That’s reflected in the fact the number of wealth management firms hired by the ultra-wealthy has risen to seven on average from three in 2020, Capgemini found.

“With their diverse operating models fully aligned with the objectives of the families they service, family offices are becoming more visible and are significantly challenging traditional wealth management firms,” the report said.

Capgemini’s conclusion: Wealth management firms need to decide if they want to compete against family offices or collaborate with them.

One way the report urges them to compete is by developing behavioural finance technology driven by artificial intelligence. These systems can be trained to understand biases and identify them early on to help individuals avoid making bad decisions, Ghanem says.

“One of the strongest messages of the report is that it’s time for the banks to leverage AI-powered behavioral finance to interact better with their clients,” he says.

It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.

On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.

The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.

Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.

“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.

“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”

Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Photo: NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft being rolled out at night. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images

What are the goals for Artemis II?

The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.

The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.

Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.

SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .

How is the mission expected to unfold?

Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.

The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.

After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.

Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.

Water photo: NASA’s Orion capsule after its splash-down in the Pacific Ocean in 2022 for the Artemis I mission. Mario Tama/Press Pool

Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?

Yes.

For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.

Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?

The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.

Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.

Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.

Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.

What will the astronauts do during the flight?

The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.

Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.

On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.

There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.

Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.

The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.

What happens after Artemis II?

Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.

NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.

The World’s Richest Are Getting Richer Again

The lunar flyby would be the deepest humans have traveled in space in decades.