China Mainland to top Japan in millionaire stakes

(Source: China Daily, by Michael Barris)  

The Chinese mainland is poised to overtake Japan this year as the economy with the world's second-largest number of dollar millionaire households, behind the United States. 

And the Asia-Pacific region will surpass North America in four years as the world's wealthiest region, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group. 

In its annual study of the world's wealth management industry, the global management consulting firm said worldwide wealth grew faster last year than in the previous two years. 

But it predicts that revenue growth and profits at wealth management firms will fall over the next five years, as the faster creation of wealth in Asia-Pacific and other developing regions poses challenges that will rob firms of the momentum they started to gain in 2012. 

BCG calculates millionaires by their investable assets excluding a primary residence or business. In 2012, the US had the most millionaire households, with 5.9 million, followed by Japan with 1.5 million and the Chinese mainland with 1.3 million. 

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