SINGAPORE: Singapore's super rich are “feeling” the pinch, a new report suggested, saying that the ultra-wealthy in the city-state lost some 9 percent of their wealth from August 2011 through July this year as fears of a recession loom over the country. Researcher Wealth-X reported that those individuals with wealth valued at over $30 million in assets suffered from the negative stock market performance. Even with the drop, Singapore's wealthy are still ranked 7th overall in Asia as a group. With a combined wealth of US$155 billion, they have enough money to build 23 Marina Bay Sands or cover the debt of Hungary, the world's 56th largest economy. Overall, the wealth of Asia's ultra rich dropped 6.8 percent to US$6.3 trillion in the past 12 months. Wealth-X said low-interest rates mean more of Asia's rich will be driven to invest in property, defying government efforts to cool the market. CEO of Wealth-X Mykolas Rambus, said: “In Asia, there are almost 43,000 ultra high net worth individuals competing for the same property whether it's Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai – there're lots of assets that are available so I think we'll see property prices continue to go up because there is such demand. “And increasingly we'll see ultra high net worth individuals invest further afield, whether it's in residential, commercial or industrial, looking for opportunities in the US and in Europe.”
