Impact investing is a way of doing good while not giving your money away for good. The FT’s Paul J Davies talks to fundraisers and entrepreneurs about bringing socially conscious investing to the wealthy of Asia.
Indian weddings: Costa lot
Multinationals are never slow to spot a branding opportunity. Everywhere from the local supermarket to the Olympic Games has become familiar territory. But India has managed to come up with a new possibility – the wedding reception. Continue reading »
Less Moutai, more Lafite: Hurun shows changing tastes in Chinese graft
These are hard times for Chinese government officials, it seems: corruption just isn’t what it used to be.
At least that’s the headline finding of Tuesday’s Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013, which discovered that super-premium Chinese liquor (Moutai) and top end luxury watches are no longer the Chinese millionaire’s favourite gifts. Continue reading »
China: keen on the French vineyards
Another day, another rich Chinese buys a French vineyard? Much as they did with Chinese art, Chinese investors are convinced they are onto a good thing with French red wine: they have bought some 30 to 40 vineyards in Bordeaux in the past two years, since China became the French region’s largest export market.
But now, according to reports in the Chinese press, an unnamed Chinese industrialist has scored the biggest Bordeaux coup to date, with the Chateau Bellefont-Belcier estate in the region’s prestigious Saint Emilion wine producing area (pictured). Continue reading »
Asia’s rich now outnumber those in both the US and Europe. For high-end banks and other companies, Asia’s growing number of entrepreneurs are a significant source of new business. The FT’s Tom Griggs investigates.
China’s rich list: bad for business
China’s billionaires and millionaires have long suspected that inclusion in China’s Hurun Rich List is bad for business. They worry that a high-profile ranking can often be followed by a high-profile knock on the door from the tax department, or worse.
Now, Chinese academics have published evidence which suggests that the rich are right to be concerned. Hurun-listed entrepreneurs are more likely to be arrested than their unlisted rivals – and, whether or not they are taken away for questioning, the mere fear that they might be can hit their share prices. Moral for investors – sell the listed, buy the unlisted. Continue reading »
Asia’s millionaires: on the up
Here’s another reminder that this is the Asian century. There are now more millionaires there than in North America, according to the latest World Wealth Report.
Given the size of China’s population and a 9.2 per cent growth in GDP last year, it is not surprising that many of the 3.4m Asian millionaires are found there. The number of people in China with more than $1m for investment rose 5.2 per cent from 2010 to 562,400 last year, according to the survey by CapGemini and RBC Wealth Management. Continue reading »
India’s shrinking rich list
Another sign of India’s economic malaise: according to the latest wealth report from Capgemini and RBC, India was the only one of the Bric countries to have fewer dollar millionaires in 2011 than in 2010.
The world’s population of rich people stayed roughly equal at 11m in 2011, according to the report published on Tuesday. But those people’s aggregate investable wealth by asset value slid 1.7 per cent to $42tn. Continue reading »
Indonesia: on the up, unevenly
The wealth controlled by the super-rich in Indonesia grew nearly 50 per cent in the last year, as the commodity boom has lifted their collective net worth to $125bn.
Sounds pretty rich, doesn’t it? Actually, as counted by market researchers Wealth-X, the combined net worth of the richest in Indonesia (the world’s 4th largest country) ranks only 9th in Asia. Who’s ahead? Continue reading »
Dubai: city of the centa-millionaires
Being a millionaire isn’t what it used to be. In their new 2012 Wealth Report, the property consultancy Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank take a look at the rise of the centa-millionaires of the world – those with at least $100m in liquid assets.
More centa-millionaires are popping up across the world thanks to what the report says is the central trend dominating the world’s prime property markets: “the relentless growth of ‘plutonomy’ economics, a phenomenon that sees the wealth of the richest 1 per cent growing far quicker than that of the general population.” Continue reading »
Russia’s wealthy turn to drink
Russia’s market for luxury goods has bounced back from a lull during the global crisis and its big spenders are once again out in force. But rather than filling their baskets with pricey jewellery and beauty products, they are turning to fine wines and spirits. Continue reading »
Arab spring in London property
The Arab spring has turned into a ka-ching [£££] for London’s new-build residential property market, according to real estate consultants Jones Lang LaSalle.
The value of Middle East investment in London’s new-build market almost doubled last year as unrest in the region prompted buyers to look for havens abroad, the property consultants say. Continue reading »
What China’s super rich want…
The growing presence of Chinese travellers on the luxury shopping circuit of the US and Europe is well known, but catering to ordinary Chinese and the country’s growing band of super rich are two different things, as the FT reports.
The wealthy don’t want bus tours and showy logos. Instead they are looking for VIP treatment and knowledge about the history and manufacturing of luxury brands. But China experts say there is also a dark side. Continue reading »
India’s gold: the taxman’s take
Indian weddings – opulent multi-day affairs where a 200-person guest list is considered “quaint” – just got a tad more expensive, while at the same time, India’s current account deficit may become a little smaller.
The Indian government on Tuesday jacked up the import duties and excise taxes on precious metals, in effect doubling the state’s take at the peak of the gold-loving country’s December-January wedding season. Continue reading »
Next on Taj itinerary: Kunming
It’s Asian hospitality at its best. Taj Resorts and Palaces, owner of Mumbai’s iconic 107-year old Taj Mahal Palace, is set to develop two hotels in the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan, a fast-developing tourist region.
Though the size of the deal remains undisclosed, the joint venture with state-owned Yunnan Tourism is the first such foray into China by an Indian luxury hotel chain, analysts told beyondbrics. Continue reading »
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