Singapore's high net worth individuals now worth a combined $489 billion

Impressive 11.5% increase from last year.

Aside from the strong jump in wealth among Singapore high net worth individuals (HNWIs), the super-rich cohort also saw a strong increase in population as they now number 101k, up 10.3% from the previous year, according to the latest RBC Wealth Management & Capgemini World Wealth Report 2013.

"This growth was driven by strong performance in equity markets and marginal GDP growth," explained the report.

The Singaporean surge in HNWIs was mirrored in the greater Asia Pacific region, which the report cited as one of the main drivers of global HNWI population growth in 2012. Asia Pacific's HNWI population increasing by 9.4%, to reach by 3.68 million - just behind North America’s HNWI population of 3.73 million.

"While North America reclaimed the position as the largest HNWI market, Asia-Pacific, with many of the fastest-growing HNWI markets, is expected to surpass it in the very near future," said the report.

It cited how Asia-Pacific has led in HNWI wealth growth and rebound, with the wealth of its HNWIs growing 12.2% to reach US $12.0 trillion after decreasing by 1.1% in 2011. Meanwhile North America’s HNWI wealth expanded by 11.7% to reach US $12.7 trillion.

Hong Kong, which is notoriously volatile, overcame its poor performance in HNWI population growth in 2011, to experience a 35.7% increase to 114k in 2012. The HNWI wealth also grew at a significant rate of 37.2% to US$ 560 billion. This growth was propelled by a combination of relatively less conservative investing behavior among many HNWIs and strong equity markets, said the report.

Many other ther Asia-Pacific markets surged with the countries of Indonesia, Australia, China, New Zealand, and Thailand posted double-digit growth rates in their HNWI populations.

"Relatively strong economic and policy fundamentals helped buffer the Asian economies. Other drivers of wealth such as equities and real estate performed well in 2012, leading to strong growth in both HNWI population and wealth," said the report.

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