Unearned wealth is not growing as fast as the rich would like

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The FT reports this morning that:

Britain lagged behind the rest of the world in creating millionaires last year, research has found, as political uncertainty hit the performance of UK equity markets.

Growth in the number of wealthy people in Britain slowed sharply in 2014, rising by 4.2 per cent versus a 13.4 per cent increase in 2013. Those with more than US$1m in investable wealth – not including housing assets or collectable goods – rose by 6.7 per cent globally.

And the explanation?
Eric Lascelles, chief economist at RBC Global Asset Management, said the slowing expansion of UK wealth was not down to the economy or the housing market, both of which grew in 2014, but the stock market, which lagged behind counterparts elsewhere.
Oh dear. Unearned wealth did not grow as fast as the rich would want it to in 2014. The world is just so unfair to the well off, especially when you realise why this happened:
“Unanswered questions” for investors included the UK election, the prospect of a referendum on EU membership and, for much of the year, the Scottish independence referendum, he said. “Some of those factors constrained the stock market – and equities is the biggest single allocation for high net worth individuals in the UK.”
Democracy is such a bore.

 


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