Although Swiss bankers have lost some of their cachet in recent years as reputations for both banking secrecy and sound money management have taken a hit, all is not lost. Even the seemingly hapless UBS has been dinged mostly on their investment banking side and not their private banking side. For many years, UBS was the top dog in private banking, but it has since surrendered that distinction to its compatriot, Credit Suisse. And speaking of Credit Suisse, it has just come out with its new "Global Wealth 2012" report which indicates that, for the first time since it's been compiling this report, Asia is the world's wealthiest region (add China and India to the tally for the Asia-Pacific for a total of $74.107 trillion):
Note though that global wealth has shrunk over the past year--even in Asia. However, the decline there has been rather smaller than that in Europe and North America. While overtaking during a slide may not represent the most auspicious of circumstances, it is something which has happened nonetheless:
Europe was responsible for 10.9 trillion US dollars of the total global loss of 12.3 trillion US dollars. Even with constant exchange rates, total household wealth in Europe fell by about 1 trillion US dollars. Asia-Pacific (excluding China and India) was the other big regional loser, shedding 1.3 trillion US dollars on the back of the dollar appreciation.Credit Suisse also sets its sights on the future being shaped in Asia. It's shaping to be Asia gaining at the expense of Europe going forward in the global wealth league tables:
Eurozone countries, in particular, have tended to move downwards in the wealth league tables, and residents in these countries have tended to be replaced in the higher wealth groups. History suggests that equity price falls and the currency depreciation for Europe over the last year are unlikely to be repeated to the same extent this year; but the overall wealth outlook remains neutral at best, rather than positive. From a global viewpoint, it is the emerging market giants – most especially China – which will continue to hold the key to household wealth creation in the immediate future.
