The report examined the performance of Canadian high net-worth individuals – those with more than $1 million in liquid financial assets – between the end of 2007 and the end of 2012 to determine how well they performed during the global financial crisis.
Ottawa’s number of such individuals rose by 11 per cent during that period, from approximately 9,000 in 2007 to over 10,000 in 2012, which the report attributes to strong growth in the local high-tech sector.
Canada outperformed the worldwide average of HNWI volumes, with an average increase of 1.8 per cent compared to a global decline of 0.3 per cent.
Despite a decrease of 3.6 per cent in 2011, the volume of Canadian HNWIs rose by 7.7 per cent in 2012. Those strong numbers led to a forecast of 29 per cent growth by 2017, up to a total of 544,000 HNWI across the country.
Currently, Canada is home to just over 422,000 HNWI who collectively hold $1.5 billion in wealth. That equates to 26 per cent of total individual wealth held in the country. Its a number that is expected to grow to $1.9 billion by 2017 – a 28 per cent increase over today – according to the report.
Ontario is home to almost half of the country’s HNWI, with just over 198,000 individuals.
In 2012, equities were the largest asset class for the individuals surveyed with 29 per cent of their wealth reported as such, followed by business interests at 25 per cent, real estate at 21 per cent, fixed income at 11.7 per cent, alternatives at 7.4 per cent and cash at 6.4 per cent.
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