Global wealth could decline by as much as 10%, to $100 trillion, by yearend, according to Boston Consulting Group.
Assets under management set a record of $109.5 trillion at Dec. 31, the firm said on Thursday, and Victor Aerni, a Zurich partner in Boston Consulting Group and co-author of a report on global wealth, said that emerging data on the economic crisis has led the firm to revise downward its projection of 3.4% growth this year in global assets under management.
"Bank results for the first half of 2008 show a clear meltdown in assets under management," Mr. Aerni said. "On the basis of the very latest data, we now believe that global wealth will be either stagnant or down this year."
The firm has no plan to revise its five-year projection of 4.8% average annual growth in global assets under management, he said, adding, "I remain bullish on the longer-term outlook for global wealth."
Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm founded in 1963. It has 66 offices in 38 countries.
