It’s never a bad time to be a billionaire. But the last ten years have been particularly good, according to the tenth annual UBS Billionaire Ambitions report published today.
Based on responses from 2,682 billionaires, the report found that between 2015 and 2024, their collective wealth increased by 121% to $14 trillion. Meanwhile, the MSCI AC World Index, which tracks large- and mid-cap growth in 23 developed markets, posted a gain of just 73 percent.
But it is not the most prominent accumulation of wealth for billionaires. Rather, it’s what they plan to do with their money next year that should draw investors’ attention, says Jennifer Gabrielli, head of UBS’s Ultra-High Net Worth Solutions group, which oversaw the creation of the report.
“They’re in businesses and industries they’ve been in for generations, if not generations, certainly decades, where they feel they have a specific advantage,” says Gabrielli, who heads UBS’s newly formed global integrated banking group. “And even after removing those assets, when they go to invest, they go to what they know best.”
There are three main areas where investors plan to invest in the next 12 months, according to the report.
Real estate: By far, real estate is the asset class that interests most billionaires. As long as the family is rich as reported they want to sell their commercial real estate and public real estate investment trusts getting up However, the report shows that 19% of respondents intend to increase their exposure “significantly”, 33% of billionaires invest in real estate in the Americas, 27% in Asia-Pacific and 10% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Developing market bonds and shares: In addition to 9% of respondents who said they would significantly increase their exposure to bonds in developed markets, 26% planned to slightly increase their exposure, and only 1% said they would significantly reduce their investments. 42% of respondents said they would invest in developed market stocks.
Gold and other precious metals: In third place, 7% of respondents said they would significantly increase their exposure to rare metals, which are typically seen as a hedge in times of instability. 33 percent said they would slightly increase their exposure.
“This may reflect fears of increased geopolitical risk and capital market valuations,” according to the report. Interestingly, while nearly as many billionaires plan to increase their exposure to direct private equity holdings (38%)—which have been the darling of investors lately—twenty percent plan to reduce their exposure.
It’s important to note that as billionaires continue to beat the market, the wealth they pass on to their heirs will likely increase as well. While multigenerational billionaires inherited $1.3 trillion over the past decade, the report says they’re expected to inherit $6.3 trillion over the next 15 years. “That’s higher than expected in 2023,” according to the report, “due to more billionaires turning 70 and increased asset values.”
