As investors in the West face a period of wealth preservation rather than wealth accumulation, in the Asia-Pacific region, the newly wealthy are enjoying an unprecedented economic boom.

The Asia-Pacific area posted the strongest regional rate of high-net-worth Individual (HNWI) population growth in 2010 among the top three markets. While HNWI wealth had already overtaken Europe in 2009, Asia-Pacific has now surpassed Europe in terms of HNWI population, expanding 9.7 per cent to 3.3 million, while Europe grew 6.3 per cent to 3.1 million.

Asia-Pacific HNWIs’ wealth gained 12.1 per cent to $10.8 trillion, exceeding Europe’s HNWI wealth of $10.2 trillion, where the wealth increase was 7.2 per cent in 2010. Asia-Pacific is now the second largest region for both HNWI wealth and population, second only to North America.

The lead story in the Wealth Management section of The Bahamas Investor January-July issue explores whether it is possible for The Bahamas to tap into this undeniably large, but equally complex market and what efforts are being made to do so.

Warren Jestin, Scotiabank’s chief economist, offers some advice: “You have to research and find a niche, because there are so many countries and they are so different that you could go bankrupt marketing to Asia following a broad-based strategy. You have to find out where the affiliation is.”

Read the full article on the Asia-Pacific region in the new issue of The Bahamas Investor out January 1, 2012.