By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_According to the report issued by UBS and PricewaterhouseCoopers today, Singapore added three more billionaires to the tally, which resulted in the Asia- Pacific region hitting a record of 831 billionaires, accounting for 38 per cent of the total number globally. The report was issued following a study conducted on more than 2,000 billionaires from 43 markets worldwide.
The total billionaire wealth in Singapore grew by 11 per cent in April, but from April to July, it bounced 30 per cent to US$102.6 billion. According to Mr Anuj Kagalwala, partner, asset and wealth management tax leader with PwC Singapore, this was owing to many of the billionaires having their wealth tied to businesses that are listed on the stock markets. He also noted that a huge 81 per cent of billionaires in Asia Pacific are self-made, of which 98 per cent in mainland China, which established a new record of 415 billionaires amidst the pandemic.
Considering the impact of the pandemic, growth of wealth in the healthcare and technology sectors can be observed, and the Asia- Pacific region is noted to have 181 billionaires in in these sectors, which is the highest share of the total billionaire population in these industries.
Meanwhile, the report also notes that the region is increasingly focused on making a social impact. Mr Anurag Mahesh, co-head of Asia-Pacific global family office at UBS Global Wealth Management said that an increasing number of Asian billionaire families have been making a social impact, through philanthropy and sustainable investments. He further observed that this trend in sustainable investment and philanthropy is set to increase, with the transfer of wealth to the younger generation. On the other hand, female billionaires in the region also increased from 26 in 2013, to 68, the highest growth among all regions
