The UBS Global Wealth Report has been at the forefront of insights into household wealth for 15 years and has become a key reference point for all those interested in trends shaping wealth across the world. Featuring analysis from UBS Global Wealth Management chief economist Paul Donovan and Economist Samuel Adams. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to the Bulletin with UBS on Monocle Radio.
Each week, the sharpest minds and freshest thinkers in finance take you beyond the numbers and hype right to the heart of the big issues of the day.
This week we're exploring the latest edition of the UBS Global Wealth Report.
Now in its 15th year, the report's been leading insights into household wealth throughout that time, becoming a key reference point for all those interested in the trends shaping wealth across the world.
To help us unpack this year's edition, we have two guests from UBS Global Wealth Management, including chief economist and good friend of this program, Paul Donovan.
They're going to tell us about some of the key regional and demographic themes that the report highlights and why they are so important to better understand.
Let's start with Paul.
Paul Donovan, always a pleasure to chat to you, particularly when the Global Wealth Report is in the frame.
Such a fascinating piece of research every year, but maybe let's start by almost taking a step back.
Paul, as I often ask you to do for an overview, tell me a bit about why it's so important to measure wealth in this way.
Well, yeah, on the surface it may seem like an obvious question.
You know, UBS is the world's largest truly global wealth manager, so obviously we want to know where the wealth is, but actually it goes beyond that.
So from an economic point of view, when we go through these big periods of structural upheaval, the industrial revolutions that we often discuss, what we find is that there's a lot of movement in terms of wealth because a lot of structural change will bring new ideas, new innovations and so on.
And if you're lucky enough to have a good idea, then you can potentially become very wealthy.
So we get a lot of wealth creation in new ways and for new groups of people.
And at the same time, we have to remember this is sort of economics 101, savings equals investment.
So when we talk about wealth, that is also the source of funding for a lot of the investment that is going to have to take place to get us to the brave new world of the fourth Industrial Revolution.
So knowing where the wealth is, knowing how it's being created, helps inform us about how to mobilize that capital to generate a more productive, a more sustainable and a more equitable future.
It's fascinating stuff.
Paul, maybe just give us one or two headlines, a couple of snapshots, if you like, about the picture then, of the growth of wealth over the last year.