(AFP Photo)
Approximately 17% of new Middle Eastern wealth builders have earned their wealth through real estate investments and land developments, according to a report by the New Economist Intelligence Unit.
According to the report, sponsored by leading global bank Citi, the Middle East region, represented by UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is the third largest region of new wealth builders in the world.
Entitled The New Wealth Builders (NWB), the report shows that “households with financial assets of $100,000 to $2m comprise the world’s fastest growing wealth segment when measured by growth trends across 32 countries around the world”.
“New Wealth Builders today have $88trn in global assets and are expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.1%, to reach $145trn by 2020,” the report said.
The report highlighted that 66% of new wealth builders in the Middle East donate a percentage of their income to charity.
The report added that 57% of the wealth builders factor charities and philanthropies into their estate planning.
Discussing threats to their wealth, 19% of the newly wealthy Middle East said that domestic and global economic and political instability are the main threats.
Around 78% of the new wealthy in the Middle East do not consider themselves wealthy, the report has shown. It added that 33% of them are passionate in investing and leaving a legacy to their heir.
