India's Richest Remain Homebound

The latest volume of Barclays Wealth Insights titled ‘The Rise of the Global Citizen?’ surveyed 2,000 high net worth individuals (HNWIs)—including 100 Indian HNWIs—across 17 countries in 2013.


It explored the mobility of the richest, and assessed whether their choices of where to live, work, study and invest are indicative of an increasingly international group. Most of the world’s richest are habitual country hoppers (see graphic below), largely due to their financial strength and access to opportunities. At least one in five wealthy individuals has lived in three or more countries.

But in the case of Indian HNWIs, an overwhelming  majority have not lived overseas. “This [the lack of mobility amongst Indian HNWIs] is significant, considering the general trend,” says Adrish Ghosh, head of Wealth Advisory (India) with Barclays. The expectations for opportunities in India are high among the local HNWI community, he says.

The mobility for the richest is also getting impacted by the shift of economic weight towards Asia, which is expected to become the largest regional market (indicated by the number of millionaires) by the end of 2014, and by wealth in 2015.

India is already reflecting encouraging statistics, with the latest Forbes India Rich List comprising only billionaires for the first time.