Asia Pacific overtook North America as the fastest wealth creation region in the world last year as the artificial intelligence boom lifted stock markets and created more wealthy individuals.
Financial wealth in Asia Pacific grew 10.5% year-on-yearto US$29.7 trillion in 2025 as 700,000 high-net-worth individuals joined the ranks of the region’s wealthy population, which increased 9.4% to 8.3 million.
The figures are from Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2026 released on June 5. They are based on a survey of 6,510 high-net-worth individuals in major markets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa in January this year.
The report notes that AI-linked semiconductor demand drove “exceptional outperformance” in Asia Pacific stock markets, highlighting in particular the 75.6% surge in South Korea’s benchmark stock index and a 25.7% jump in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, in North America, wealth grew 9.9% to $32.9 trillion as the number of wealthy individuals rose 9.1% to 9.2 million.
In Europe, wealth grew 8% to $20.5 trillion with a 6.5% rise in its wealthy population to 6.1 million.
Asset allocations
Globally, stock market gains and easing inflation drove wealth up 8.7% to $98.3 trillion in 2025, the largest increase in any single year since 2018. The ranks of millionaires worldwide expanded by nearly two million to reach 25.3 million.
Stocks and bonds accounted for the biggest share of high-net-worth individuals’ assets. They allocated 25% to stocks last year, up three percentage points from 2024, riding on robust equity market performance. Their bond allocations were up two pointsto 20% as the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index posted an 8.17% return, the strongest performance since 2020.
On the other hand, they reduced holdings of alternative investments by three points to 12% and cash by two points to 24%, while maintaining real estate at 19%.
Wealth managers struggle
Despite the growth in wealth creation, the Capgemini report notes that wealth management firms are struggling to keep pace with evolving client expectations towards more digital, seamless, and highly personalised experiences.
It says 97% of firms still segment clients by wealth bands, and 78% rely on traditional risk profiles — traditional operating models that do not fully capture growing diverse needs, behaviours, and decision‑making patterns of clients.
Only 17% of high-net-worth individuals felt that their wealth advisory experience has been seamless and personalised, according to the report.
Capgemini Research Institute is the think tank of Capgemini SE, a French multinational information technology services and consultancy.
