Asian millionaires equal European counterparts in number

Merrill Lynch reports a 26% rise of individuals with $1mln of investable assets to 3mln in 2009.

Asia-Pacific’s number of millionaires equaled Europe’s for the first time last year as the region powered the global economy’s recovery, according to a report by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch & Co.

The number of individuals with at least $1 million of investable assets in Asia-Pacific rose 26 percent to 3 million in 2009, matching Europe and almost overhauling North America’s 3.1 million, according to the 14th annual World Wealth Report published on Monday.

“Asia-Pacific was the only region in which both macroeconomic and market drivers of wealth expanded significantly,” Bertrand Lavayssiere, Capgemini’s managing director of global financial services, said in a statement.

Millionaires in Asia-Pacific -- home to 60 percent of the world’s population and the two fastest-growing major economies - - boosted combined assets from 31 percent to $9.7 trillion, the fastest regional increase, according to the survey. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index posted its biggest annual gain in six years as stimulus spending in China reignited economic growth.

Barclays Plc, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG are rushing to expand their private banks in Asia-Pacific as rich people from Indonesia to China invest more money. Wealth in the region, excluding Japan, is expected to rise at almost double the global pace, the Boston Consulting Group said this month.

View the full story in Bloomberg.