Real estate accounted for the largest share of Saudi high-net-worth individuals" investment assets in 2014, at 30.91% of total assets, while business profits amounted to 22.3 percent, stocks 19.1 percent, cash and deposits 13.5 percent, alternative assets 11.9 percent, and fixed income 2.2 percent.
A recent study conducted by the British research firm Wealth Insight confirmed that the number of individuals who accumulated their wealth through the real estate and basic materials sectors stood at 40.7 percent and 28.7 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the number of wealthy individuals who accumulated their wealth through the financial services industry rose by 25.3 percent during the study period.
It noted that the value of liquid assets owned by the Kingdom’s wealthy reached $108 billion in 2014, accounting for 34.9 percent of total assets.
Wealth Investment Abroad in 2014:
The Kingdom’s wealthy invested 30.4% (95 billion dollars) of their wealth outside the Kingdom, while the volume of assets invested abroad is expected to increase to 129 billion dollars by 2019, accounting for 32% of the total asset value.
The study revealed that in 2014, the volume of assets held by the Kingdom’s wealthy in Europe reached 9%, followed by Southeast Asia at 8.11%, the rest of the Middle East at 5.81%, Africa at 3.31%, and Latin America at 1.41%, while the Kingdom’s wealthy individuals" allocations to Europe declined sharply compared to other regions during the study period, from 11.21% in 2010 to 9.01% in 2014.
The study projected that investments by the Kingdom’s wealthy in Europe would decline further to 8.5 percent of total overseas investment by 2019, due to increased confidence in Asian and emerging market investments.
Regional and City Trends
The study noted that the number of high-net-worth individuals is growing most rapidly in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Al-Khobar, with the number in Riyadh rising by 26.61% from 22,324 in 2010 to 28,27% in 2014, while their number in Jeddah increased from 5,600 in 2010 to 7,020 in 2014, and in Dammam from 2,251 in 2010 to 2,610 in 2014.
Number of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals and Their Wealth
The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the Kingdom in 2014 reached 874, with an average wealth of $11.6 million, including 23 billionaires, 354 centimillionaires, and 497 millionaires.
The ratio of ultra-high-net-worth individuals to the total number of wealthy individuals in the Kingdom was 1.8 percent, which is higher than the global average of 0.7%. According to the study’s report, the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the Kingdom increased by 24.31%, from 703 in 2010 to 874 in 2014.
The study revealed differences in the growth rates of the ultra-wealthy based on their wealth levels, with the number of billionaires increasing by 15.01%, the number of centimillionaires by 24.61%, and the number of millionaires by 251%.
The study projects that the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals will rise by 13.81% to reach 1,058 by 2019, including 28 billionaires, 408 centimillionaires, and 612 millionaires.
