World's Economic Center of Gravity Tilts to East

     The number of Asians with at least $100 million in disposable assets overtook North America’s tally for the first time as the world’s “economic center of gravity” continued moving east, Citigroup’s private bank said. There were 18,000 “centa-millionaires” in Southeast Asia, China and Japan at the end of 2011, compared with 17,000 in North America and 14,000 in Western Europe, the bank said on Wednesday in The Wealth Report 2012, published in partnership with Knight Frank.

     The world economy’s center of gravity has moved from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in 1980 to a point near the Suez Canal today, the report said, citing calculations by Danny Quah of the London School of Economics. The International Monetary Fund in January cut its forecast for 2012 global growth to 3.3 percent, while saying the 27 countries of developing Asia may grow by 7.3 percent.

     “The number and concentration of centa-millionaires accentuates the trajectory of current global wealth flows,” James Lawson, director at Ledbury Research, said in the report. “Trends seen in this wealth bracket are likely to be replicated in lower wealth tiers in years to come.” Li Ka-Shing, Asia’s richest man, has a net worth of about $24.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking the world’s 20 wealthiest individuals.

     The shift of wealth to the east may fuel investment in art, wine and sports from Asia, the report said. Greater interest in art investments was expressed last year by a net 32 percent of the region’s holders of more than $25 million. Interest in wine rose 29 percent. “When it comes to investments of passion, it seems that Asia-Pacific could be the region to watch,” the report said. “At a time of turmoil in the markets, art, wine and sport look like steady investments, routinely outperforming indices such as the FTSE 100.”

sumber : http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/worlds-economic-center-of-gravity-tilts-to-east/507734