Family businesses are the backbone of the global economy. In Volume 8 of Wealth Insights, we examine the structure, motivations and characteristics of family businesses around the world, within the context of a challenging economic environment.

Over the past decade, entrepreneurs have become increasingly important – and visible – players in the global economy. Ongoing programmes of liberalisation, privatisation and economic reform in many countries around the world have democratised entrepreneurship, creating a fertile environment for the development of new business ventures. Today, the world’s most successful, and wealthiest, entrepreneurs are just as likely to originate from India, China or the UAE as they are from the more established markets of the US, UK or Japan.

In this report we examine the choices that wealthy investors make, especially during periods of volatility, and explore the characteristics that determine why they make those choices. With a wide range of information, advice and options available, accompanied by rapid rates of financial innovation, keeping up with trends in a time of market uncertainty can be a challenge. We underscore the importance of how personality traits and cognitive biases of investors can play a central role in influencing investment-making decisions and the significance of expert advice in helping to close the knowledge gap.

This report reveals that, while the US remains at the top of the Index, a number of the emerging markets will perform strongly over the next 10 years. China accelerates from seventh to second place in the overall wealth rankings while India will jump from twelfth to seventh place. Russia is catapulted from twentieth place to ninth place – to both join the top 10 for the first time. The success of the developing markets will see both Australia and Spain move out of the top 10.

Written by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of Barclays Wealth, this fourth volume of Barclays Wealth Insights examines what it means to be wealthy today.

The third volume of Barclays Wealth Insights, focuses on how wealthy individuals consider ‘Risk, Return and Reward’ throughout their lives and the role that each plays in their approach to investment and planning their legacy.

From luxury goods manufacturers to private banks, the commercial world is starting to sit up and take notice of women’s growing spending power, and is now redoubling its efforts to tap into this money-spinning market.

The first Insight report charts the growth in different categories of wealth within G7 countries, and measures the quality or attractiveness of the business environment in individual countries around the world.

As the number and assets of the wealthy in the UK today continues to break new records, this paper examines the current climate of giving amongst this group, what issues the individuals and the charities face, and how all of this is set to change in the next decade.

We analyse three measures of wealth: financial household wealth (investable assets such as cash, shares and bonds owned by the entire household); non-financial wealth (property and land owned by the household); and aggregate wealth (a combination of both financial and non-financial wealth).