The United States added 736,000 new millionaires in 2025, more than any other country, as global high-net-worth individual wealth climbed to a record $98.3 trillion, according to Capgemini's World Wealth Report 2026. The 8.7% increase in HNWI wealth—up from 4.2% in 2024—was the largest single-year gain since 2018, driven by AI-fueled equity rallies and easing inflation. The global millionaire population expanded by nearly 2 million to 25.3 million individuals.
North America posted 9.9% wealth growth, with U.S. HNWI wealth rising 10% and the population increasing 9.2% to 8.7 million. Asia-Pacific led all regions with 10.5% wealth growth and a 9.4% population rise, as semiconductor demand boosted regional stock markets. Japan added 436,000 millionaires and China added 154,000. Europe rebounded with 8% wealth growth; Germany saw 11.1% population growth, while France and the UK posted gains of 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively. The Middle East was the only region to contract, with HNWI wealth declining 1.5% amid lower oil prices and regional conflict.
Ultra-HNWIs—those with $30 million or more in investable assets—outpaced all other segments for the second consecutive year, posting 9.7% wealth growth and a 9.4% population rise. The top 1% of HNWIs now control 34.8% of total HNWI wealth, benefiting from greater exposure to private equity, hedge funds, and other alternatives that remain largely inaccessible to lower wealth tiers.
HNWIs adjusted portfolios in response to market conditions, lifting equity allocations three percentage points to 25% and pushing fixed income to 20% as bond markets delivered their strongest returns since 2020. In the U.S., equity allocations climbed from 22% in January 2025 to 27% in January 2026, while cash holdings dropped from 28% to 23% as short-term yields became less attractive. Alternative investments slipped three points to 12% globally, compressed by faster appreciation in public equities, though two in three HNWIs still intend to increase private equity exposure.
Despite the headline wealth figures, the report identifies a deepening structural problem at traditional firms. Between 2022 and 2025, an estimated $1.5 trillion in new assets under advice flowed to competitors rather than to established wealth managers, as clients spread relationships across a growing roster of providers. "In our 30 years of tracking global wealth, 2025 represents an exceptional moment for the size of the world's population of high-net worth individuals and the assets they control," said Kartik Ramakrishnan, CEO of Capgemini's financial services business. "HNWIs now have access to more asset classes across markets, along with greater options in terms of advisors and expertise."
The fragmentation of client relationships is accelerating. In 2019, 39% of HNWIs worked with a single firm; by 2025, that figure fell to 19%, a 50% decline. Meanwhile, the proportion working with four to six firms doubled to 25%. In the U.S., exclusive relationships collapsed from 55% to just 14% over the same period, a 75% decline, while the share of U.S. HNWIs working with four to six firms surged from 7% to 27%, a 305% increase. A full 90% of U.S. HNWIs say they work with multiple firms specifically to gain better access to alternative investments, above the global average of 88%. Some 64% want exposure to niche solutions such as private markets and hedge funds, and 54% consider access to cryptocurrency and digital assets important when selecting a firm.
Traditional firms are struggling to adapt. A survey of 144 wealth management executives found that 97% of traditional firms still segment clients primarily by assets under management, failing to capture behavioral signals. In the U.S., that figure reaches 100%, with 67% of U.S. firms also relying on traditional risk profiles that cannot capture behavioral nuances. More than 60% of executives globally acknowledge their firm lacks a unified client view, rising to 73% among U.S. executives. Only 17% of HNWIs worldwide describe their advisory experience as seamless and tailored; in the U.S., just 12% say the same, while 47% have had to restate their objectives multiple times to the same firm.
Relationship managers bear much of the operational burden. In the U.S., 42% of advisor time is consumed by operational tasks. Three-quarters of U.S. advisors want AI-enabled systems to automate routine work, and 66% want access to an integrated ecosystem of specialists spanning both financial and non-financial services—above the global figures of 41% and 61%, respectively. The report estimates that AI-driven capabilities could free approximately 50% of operational RM time, redirecting it toward higher-value client engagement. For firms that fail to modernize, the risk of continued asset attrition remains high, even as the pool of global wealth reaches unprecedented levels.
