There has rarely been a better time to be rich. There are more options for wealthy individuals now than ever before and more ways for them to invest, spend and distribute their money.

Recent years have seen a huge increase in both the numbers of wealthy individuals and the amount of wealth they hold. At the same time, regional differences and attitudes to wealth are becoming less pronounced.

The rich around the world have growing international facets to both their lifestyle and investments, and this is apparent in the countries in which they choose to live, work, buy and sell companies, the investment strategies they pursue, and the wealth management services they need.

The aim of Barclays Wealth Insights is to develop a comprehensive picture of what it means to be wealthy in the 21st century.

Later volumes of this series, to be published during 2007, will focus more closely on the wealthy as individuals, examining the roles that gender, family and lifestyle choices play in defining the universe they inhabit.

But our focus in this report is to provide an overview of how the landscape of wealth is changing around the world.

Using the combination of a new forecast from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which charts the growth in financial and non-financial wealth among households within G7 countries, and the EIU’s Business Environment Rankings, which measure the quality or attractiveness of the business environment in individual countries, we will explore where wealth is likely to be concentrated around the world from now to 2016.

Meanwhile, our panel of wealth experts, drawn from academia, industry and financial circles, provide unique insights into the key trends driving wealth creation.