Briefing highlights
- Number of multimillionaires on rise
- Toronto home prices rebound
- Markets at a glance
- Scotiabank to sell TMX stake
- All 3 billion accounts hacked in 2013: Yahoo
The wealthy among us
Canada is sprouting multimillionaires.
(I'm not one of them. And, unfortunately, you may not be, either.)
In its recent annual world wealth report, consulting group Capgemini calculated that the number of high-net-worth individuals, or HNWIs, in Canada shot up last year by more than 11 per cent to 357,000 from 321,000 a year earlier, besting the global average of 7.5 per cent.
Capgemini describes such folks as those with investable assets of $1-million (U.S.) or more, which in Canada is about $1.3-million. That excludes primary residences, so count yourself out if you think you're there just because you own a home in Vancouver or Toronto.
Also excluded are collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.
(Which, presumably, means my fridge. Which just broke down so it wouldn't be included, regardless. And which we replaced on the weekend with a fairly standard model, rather than the tech-heavy version that comes with memo, photo, information and entertainment functions, and also keeps stuff cold, and which I wouldn't stop playing with in the store until my wife rolled her eyes and said, as she does, "Michael!")
"A handful of markets (including Russia, Brazil, and Canada) dramatically reversed course from declines suffered a year ago," Capgemini said in the report on 71 countries taking in more than 98 per cent of global gross national income.
"Russia grew both population and wealth at about 20 per cent, the fastest of all the markets, following modest decreases a year before, while Brazil rebounded from a sharp setback a year ago to register double-digit increases in both population and wealth."
Canadians largely benefited from a rebound in equity markets and investment in real estate, Chirag Thakral, deputy head of Capgemini's financial services and market intelligence strategic analysis group, said in an interview.
Such reports and surveys can help wealth managers in their business.
Notable, Capgemini said, was the return of 24.3 per cent on portfolios run by such managers, along with a rise "in the trust and confidence" rich people have in the wealth-management folks.
"Apart from these positive signals, however, the research pointed to an undercurrent of troubling trends," the report said.
"One was tepid satisfaction with wealth management firms, with HNWIs indicating concern with the fees they pay, as well as desire for a wider range of services," it added.
"Additionally, a closer look … pointed to potential problems in meeting the needs of the less-wealthy HNWIs (those with US$1-million to US$5-million), an important segment comprising about 90 per cent of all HNWIs globally."
(I'd happily take a back seat and settle for being one of the less wealthy.)
Read more
Toronto home prices climb
Average home prices climbed almost 6 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area in September compared to August, marking the first month-over-month price increase since the region's housing market began a steep sales slide in May, The Globe and Mail's Janet McFarland reports.
The Toronto Real Estate Board said the average GTA home sold for $775,546 in September, up 5.9 per cent from August's average of $732,292.
Prices were up 2.6-per-cent compared to September last year, but remain 15.8 per cent lower than they were at the market's peak in April before the downturn began.
Markets at a glance
More news
- Scotiabank to sell stake in TMX Group after deeming it a ‘non-core’ holding
- All 3 billion accounts hacked in 2013 data theft: Yahoo