Saudi's private wealth to reach $1.1 trillion by 2022: report

Personal wealth in Saudi Arabia is expected to accelerate at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of six percent to reach $1.1 trillion in investible assets by 2022, according to Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) recent report.

Personal wealth grew three percent between 2016 and 2017 in the Kingdom, driven primarily by the positive development of offshore assets between 2016 and 2017, it noted.

“Taking an in-depth look at wealth distribution, both investible and non-investible assets in Saudi Arabia are expected to grow at a steady pace.

Investible assets will grow at a CAGR of 6 percent and non-investible assets will grow at a CAGR of five percent in the next five years,” said Markus Massi, senior partner and managing director, BCG Middle East’s Financial Services practice.

Offshore assets, at 49 percent, were the highest proportion of assets in Saudi Arabia last year, followed by currency and deposits at 26 percent, equities and investment funds at 19 percent, and life insurance and pensions at six percent.

"For the most part, this asset allocation is expected to experience slight growth by 2022, with offshore assets, currency and deposits, and equities and investment funds projected to reach 50 percent, 26 percent and 18 percent, respectively,” Massi added.

Looking to the future, growth by asset class will pick up slightly in life insurance and pensions at CAGR of six percent, and currency and deposits at a CAGR of five percent over the next five years.

In the same period, other asset classes will remain constant including offshore assets at CAGR five percent to $10 trillion, and equities and investment funds at CAGR three percent.

Meanwhile, personal wealth in the Middle East jumped by 11 percent to $3.8 trillion in 2017.

Globally, personal financial wealth grew by 12 percent to $201.9 trillion last year, with wealth in equities and investment funds showing strong growth.

The US controls highest personal wealth in the world at $80.5 trillion followed by China, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Australia and South Korea, the report pointed out.