In 2023, there were 43,457 female ultra-high-net-worth individuals and 337 female billionaires. While such numbers do not appear large at 13% of the global billionaire pool and 11% of the ultra-high-net-worth individual – or UHNWI – population (i.e. those with individual wealth of USD 30m or more), these figures belie the astounding growth that female multi-millionaires as a group have enjoyed since 2010, when women were just 9% and 6.5% of the billionaire and UHNWI population respectively.
The growth has been driven by higher numbers of UHNW women with inherited wealth (as wealth transfers become more frequent), complemented by a small – but not insignificant – increase in self-made UHNW women, as business attitudes change. This analysis aims to highlight key characteristics of UHNW women and what drives them.
Our findings indicate that the typical UHNW woman is that of a 60-something widow, heiress or stay-home wife, likely hailing from the US, Chinese Mainland or developed Europe. Her wealth can more often or not be traced to traditional ‘old economy’ sectors such as food and beverage (F&B), retail and manufacturing, and she usually has a keen interest in social causes.
How are female multi-millionaires managing their money?
While we largely anticipated these findings, what surprised were the similarities in how UHNW women and men allocated their assets, with both holding a high weighting of liquid assets. The extent of gender-inclusivity in a select subset of countries (Germany, Italy and Brazil) was also a pleasant discovery, with women making up a quarter of billionaires in these. The UK, meanwhile, stood out for its culture of female entrepreneurs – it is the only country where self-made female billionaires outnumbered those with inheritances in the past decade. The implications that these have for our ‘women and wealth’ thematic are manifold.
Although there is scope for both male and female UHNWIs to review cash positions and selectively increase exposure to risky assets, there is greater impetus for female UHNWIs to actively manage their wealth, given their longer life expectancy and less experience (of some) in making large financial decisions. This is particularly the case for female billionaires who – statistically – have fallen off the Forbes billionaire list more quickly than males.
Women as a share of the exclusive UHNWI segment has been growing, rising from 6.5% in 2016 to 10.9% in 2022. Mirroring this, the share of women among billionaires has also increased, rising from 103 women (or 8.5% of the global billionaire population) in 2011 to 328 women (or 11.9%) a decade later. At 337 female billionaires globally in 2023 on Forbes’ count, there are now more female billionaires than ever before, with a self-made woman, Rafaela Aponte-Diamant, earning a place among the top ten for the first time in three years.
Is Singapore a microcosm of the global ultra-wealthy complex?
According to figures from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, wealth overseen by the asset management industry here has doubled in just six years, to about SGD4trn in 2023. About 80% of it is foreign. GlobalData’s report on Singapore HNWIs indicates that women and men account for 15.8% and 84.2% of the HNWI population, respectively. Most HNWIs are either retired or nearing retirement age, with a low proportion of HNWs in both groups under the age of 50. Given Singapore’s relatively young history, earned income and entrepreneurship are the most common sources of wealth for HNWIs here, accounting for 93% of the HNWI population.
How female multi-millionaires have made their fortunes
Majority of female UHNWIs count inheritances and a combination of inheritances and self-made resources as their source of wealth, with the wealth of 25.3% and 29.5% of the group attributable to both of these sources respectively.
Self-made women comprise just 45.2% of the female UHNWI group, compared to 75.7% for UHNW men. Their median wealth also tended to be lower at USD35.7m relative to those with inherited wealth at USD67.3m.
Female billionaires are similarly dominated by more heiresses than entrepreneurs, with academic studies showing that the number of women qualifying for billionaire status via inheritances was 1.7x the number qualifying through self-made means for the 2010-2023 period. Indeed, growth in the absolute number of women billionaires with inherited wealth has been the key driver of increased representation of women within the overall billionaire pool since 2010, although the rate of growth of female self-made billionaires has been higher due to a low base.
One country has, however, bucked the trend. The US is the only country studied where the share of women among self-made billionaires is larger than the share of those with inherited wealth. This is due to both the relatively high proportion of females among self-made billionaires and an extraordinarily low proportion of females among billionaires with inherited wealth.
What does this mean for the investment world?
As mentioned, historically, male billionaires have had a higher probability of remaining on the Forbes billionaire list for a longer time than females. Research published by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Germany has found that the five year probability of survival for male billionaires is 44%, statistically higher than the 40% estimated for females. We believe this reinforces the case for greater involvement by UHNW women in investing and managing their wealth.
There is growing research supporting the use of trusts as a tool for wealth preservation by UHNW women. Historically, trusts have enabled wealthy families to protect their assets from financial crises and grow, while facilitating the cross-generational retention of wealth by allowing wealthy men to provide for widows and daughters (who, in earlier times, would not otherwise be able to inherit property) after the men passed on.
In current times, trusts can be used by widows or divorcees who may not have developed asset management skills during their marriage, as tools to preserve their wealth, e.g. by outsourcing asset management activities to financial professionals appointed as trustees, who are legally required to act in the best interests of trust recipients.
Why wealthy women can be a force for good
For many UHNW women, the meaning of wealth extends beyond what is financial. Surveys by The WealthiHer Network conducted in 2022 have found that wealth means health for 49% of Asian HNW women. For 42%, wealth is freedom to live the way they want, and for 24%, wealth is happiness. As for the definition of success, 51% believe that a thriving career is the greatest indicator, while 46% feel that making a difference to the community is what is important. For 29%, success means helping their children to achieve their ambitions.
Narrowing the gender wealth gap
The outsized impact of the super-rich is an opportunity to narrow the gender wealth gap. Studies in Germany show that although individual wealth for males and females are largely similar for 99% of the German population, the overall gender wealth gap has still averaged 40%, mainly due to the large gender wealth gap among the richest 1%. The closing of the gender wealth gap among UHNWIs is a significant first step in reducing the overall gender gap for society at large. And there is no better time for this than now.