Happiest Asian millionaires confident of increasing wealth

High net worth individuals in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Thailand are not just the happiest in Asia, they are also confident of tripling their fortunes within the next 10 years.

That’s one of the findings of a survey of 2,800 rich individuals across nine countries in Asia, conducted by wealth industry consultant Scorpio Partnership.

The study found high net worth Malaysians, Indians, Indonesians and Thais as the “most content when it comes to their life-wealth balance”.

In contrast, the rich – those with an average investible wealth of $1.4 million (€1.1 million) – in South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong were the least happy.

Conducted in association with Standard Chartered Priority Bank in Asia, the study also found a link between being content and having the confidence to increase wealth. The rich living in the happiest countries of Asia reckoned they would triple their wealth by 2022.

“The results are striking. The linkage between happiness and confidence in wealth creation ambitions is significant,” said Catherine Tillotson, managing partner at Scorpio Partnership, in a statement.

Respondents were also increasingly looking for professional advice before making decisions about their wealth, found the study. Banks were the preferred advisers for millionaires across all the Asian countries, while financial consultants, online investment service and wealth advisers were also important.

“Fortune favours the brave, but in Asia, investors now seem to recognise fortune also favours those with good advice,” said Sebastian Dovey, also a managing partner at Scorpio Partnership.