The world’s richest people have been tipped to favour Hong Kong bank vaults over Swiss in the next couple of years. Predicting the future in the opaque world of global wealth management is anything but straightforward.
Data on where millionaires park their cash is hard to come by, while turbulent global politics makes it difficult to decipher which countries will offer the best wealth management conditions in future.
For generations, Switzerland has been the go-to destination for offshore wealth. Private banks are as synonymous with the Alpine state as chocolate and cheese. The wealth management industry even survived a United States-led assault on tax evasion that six years ago seriously eroded Switzerland’s fabled banking secrecy laws.
New geopolitical pressures, including a shift of wealth and power to the east and war in Europe, have revived whispers that the ultra-rich will empty Swiss vaults and take their money elsewhere.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is convinced that Hong Kong will snatch the title of cross-border wealth champions from Swiss banks by the end of 2025. Singapore is also fighting hard for second spot while a new-found passion for Dubai from Russia’s wealthy elite has pushed the United Arab Emirates into the role of new challenger.