London is a snug place for super rich


05/13/2016

London hosts more billionaires than any other city in the world, says a new study of Wealth Insight.



The capital of the UK is a haven for 4400 super-riches, the net assets of whom amounted to $ 30 million or more, indicate Wealth Insight data for 2015. This is by 0.8% more compared to the previous year.

London is ahead of other cities by the number of billionaires, too. There are 25% more billionaires than in its nearest competitor – Tokyo, and 29% more than in Singapore. Last year, the gap with Japan amounted to 22%.

London's status as a world financial center is the driving force in the process of attracting capital to Britain, says Wealth Insight. The situation is unlikely to change even in the case of Brexit.

Official figures show that British billionaires tend to work in financial services, 15% of them are engaged in the key sectors of life in London. They also work in other industries: media, real estate, luxury.

Moreover, the financial center of London has attracted foreign capital.

"Easily accessible financial expertise in London is very attractive for the world’s super-rich people. Many of them own property and private schools.", - Said the editor of SPEAR'S City AM Christopher Sylvester.

Two other cities in the UK also got in the new study’s top 100. Birmingham was on the 65th place, with 138 multimillionaires registered in the city, and Edinburgh found itself on the 74th place with its 112 super rich people.

According to City AM’s research, New York is behind London in the ranking of the world's leading financial centers. Recent data reported that the total number of billionaires there increased by 0.7%, and now the number of super-rich people reaches 3028. This puts New York on the 4th place.

"If you had asked me last year, I would say that London would have yielded the position, most likely, to Hong Kong and Beijing in the next ten years. However, New York is now the biggest competitor of London", - Said Oliver Williams, head of Wealth Insight.

Meanwhile, the number of multi-millionaires in a little-known Chinese city of Dalian, in Liaoning province, is growing faster: 5.4%.

source: politico.eu