Entrepreneurship is outpacing inheritance as the leading driver of wealth creation, particularly in emerging markets, according to a new report by Barclays.
Wealth accumulation by the world's entrepreneurs means that “spheres of affluence have shifted away from traditional economic centers, including the U.S. and other developed markets,” Barclays says
The report, Origins and Legacy: The Changing Order of Wealth Creation, is based on a survey of 2,000 people worldwide with at least $1.5 million in total net worth and 200 people with at least $15 million. It is also based on interviews with entrepreneurs, academics, professionals and other experts.
Forty percent of the respondents said their main source of wealth came from the sale of a business or business profits, compared to 26 percent who said it was from inheritance.
“While entrepreneurship is becoming the predominant source of wealth creation across the globe, a higher proportion of respondents from emerging markets are citing accumulation of wealth through entrepreneurship than in the U.S. or Japan,” Barclays says.
In India 59 percent of the high-net-worth individuals say their wealth is from entrepreneurship and in South Africa it is 68 percent, compared to 21 percent in the United States and 35 percent in Japan.
Wealth is being created twice as quickly in developing regions such as Asia Pacific and Africa, where it took high-net-worth individuals an average of 12 years and 16 years, respectively, to accumulate their wealth. In the U.S. and Europe it took respondents an average of 28 years and 23 years, respectively, to accumulate their wealth.
“Our survey suggests that emerging markets have been able to take greater advantage of the effects of globalization, and as a result create and accumulate wealth at a more rapid pace than those in developed markets,” says Christopher Johnson, director and wealth advisor at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.
“Developing markets have benefited greatly by an exposure to new information through technology. As the number of wealthy individuals continues to increase in these markets, planning for the future purpose of that wealth becomes increasingly important,” he adds.
Entrepreneurs and business owners have a higher tolerance for risk and a greater tendency to embrace volatility in their personal investments compared to those who inherited their wealth or earned or saved it over time, Barclays says. As a result, entrepreneurs and business owners surveyed were more likely to say that their wealth has fluctuated a great deal over time.
Attitudes toward philanthropy also differed. Respondents who identified themselves as entrepreneurs are less likely to give to charity solely out of a sense of duty and responsibility than those who have inherited their wealth or acquired it over time through earnings and savings, Barclays says.
Despite that, entrepreneurs are more likely to become involved with philanthropic opportunities throughout their lifetime as a way of utilizing their skills and business acumen. Forty-one percent say that they intend to give away their wealth during their lifetime, compared with only 27 percent of those who acquired their wealth through earnings or savings.
