Quality of life, family needs and business interests are, respectively, the most crucial causes for concern among millionaires who left their birth country in search of success, findings from a new report show.

Real estate and global equities are among the favoured asset classes of internationally-mobile wealthy individuals, especially those residing in the Asia Pacific region, according to the report released yesterday by Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management.

The Wealth Through the Prism of Culture and Mobility report, conducted by Canada’s largest bank by assets and the Economic Intelligence Unit, found that “a global, nomadic approach to personal and professional life is a key factor to the success of millionaires around the world.”

The research involved investigating the investment, wealth transfer and charitable-giving behaviours of individuals who live, work, or spend more than half their time outside their country of birth and have investable assets of at least $1 million. It also highlighted the unique characteristics of internationallu mobile wealth persons living in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the survey, wealthy globe-trotters in the region are attracted to places where opportunities abound, as 24 per cent of respondents selected Hong Kong, and 31 per cent Singapore to reside in and to build their wealth.

Taking a similarly global approach when it comes to what they invest in, global equities were preferred by over a third (36 per cent) of such people – with 45 per cent of those residing in the Asia-Pacific region – compared to just a quarter (25 per cent) of millionaires who have stayed in their home country.

Real estate lead the list of favoured asset classes for the internationally-mobile wealthy, with over half (53 per cent) having it as a high or very high proportion of their portfolio. A propensity to invest very heavily in real estate was apparent among those living in the Asia-Pacific region, with almost a third (31 per cent) doing so, compared to just seven per cent of their counterparts in North America and 10 per cent of those in Western Europe.

Precious metals

Another key component of a mobile millionaire’s investment portfolio is the precious metals category, with almost twice as many global individuals, compared their home-based wealthy peers, buying into this asset class (21 per cent versus 13 per cent, respectively).

With regards to wealth transfer, the results found that those from Asia-Pacific are the most likely to leave all their assets to their families, with 41 per cent planning to do so, compared to just over a quarter (27 per cent) of mobile wealth persons from other regions. Meanwhile, North Americans are the most likely to leave assets to charity, with 29 per cent planning significant donations compared to just 11 per cent of such people from other markets.

Overall, more half the responding such people living in Asia (51.3 per cent) cited “steady growth” as the primary goal for their investment portfolios. “Asset preservation” and “high growth” came close second and third, rated by 21.2 and 20.4 per cent of respondents, respectively. Incidentally, the latter was the highest of any region surveyed - the average global number aiming for “high growth” was 14 per cent. Only 5.3 per cent of Asian-residing respondents declared “income/cashflow” to be the top objective, with regards their investments.

 The EIU surveyed 558 high net worth individuals including 300 internationally-mobile wealthy individuals (IMWIs). The latter group formed the basis for most of the report and the 258 non-mobile respondents served as benchmarks for comparison.