The broader significance of wealthy individuals should not be underestimated. As leaders, innovators, facilitators and pioneers, the wealthy often represent the most dynamic sections of society, while as investors they tend to be the most prescient, passionate and incisive individuals you can meet.
The Barclays Wealth Insights reports, developed in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, provide a comprehensive picture of what it means to be wealthy in the 21st century.
Based on global research with over 600 mass affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and the views of a panel of wealth experts, drawn from academia, industry and financial circles, each Insights report paints a picture of the private world of this influential group, by analysing their shifting demographic profile, priorities and preferences.
And by uncovering the complex social and psychological dynamics – including gender, family and social interactions – that define the behaviour and outlook of the wealthy, our reports provide a compelling snapshot of the deeper trends that shape the future of society at large.
There are new investors in town and in the midst of the financial maelstrom caused by the credit crunch they appear to be thinking and behaving like their institutional counterparts. The numbers of online investors diversifying their investments away from equities has increased over the last twelve months. Whilst some have become more cautious and reluctant to trade, a significant proportion are also trading more regularly in order to take advantage of opportunities as high-quality securities have been sold indiscriminately which now potentially offer great value.
Barclays Wealth, 03 November 2008
Just a few years ago individual investors could only dream about having the same resources available to them as professional traders working for financial institutions. However, the landscape has quickly transformed and technology, products and services have developed at such pace that private investors are fast catching up with the professionals.
‘Instividual’ is a term that has been used for a number of years in the US to describe this growing trend, particularly in the family office space where individuals have sufficient financial resources to merit the same institutional level of service as endowment and pension funds.
With institutional mandates in the region of £50 million and four or five required to gain appropriate diversification, an ‘instividual’ would require some £200-£250 million in investable assets. However, new developments in technology and broker offerings are bringing about a democratisation of the services which were once only available to financial institutions.
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