Credit Suisse cuts forecast for global household wealth growth

By Fareha Khan

(Reuters) - Global household wealth will grow at 6.6 percent annually, slower than the 7 percent estimated earlier, as the overall economic outlook remains weak, Credit Suisse said.

Global household wealth is now expected to rise to $345 trillion (227 trillion pounds) in the year ending June 2020, the Swiss bank said on Tuesday in its "Global Wealth Report".

Global net household wealth is estimated to have shrunk 4.7 percent to $250.1 trillion in the year ended June 30, the first fall since the 2008 financial crisis, mainly due to a strong dollar.

"The United States will remain the undisputed leader with wealth nearing $113 trillion, but its share will decline somewhat to a third of the global total," Credit Suisse said.

Switzerland is likely to remain the world's richest nation in terms of individual wealth, followed by New Zealand. "Sweden could surprise by gaining the world's third spot," the bank said.

The report also highlighted the uneven distribution of wealth, saying that nearly 1 percent of the world's population holds about 50 percent of the total private wealth.

Credit Suisse estimated that 3.4 billion people, or 71 percent of the world's population, had wealth below $10,000 each in 2015.

The number of dollar millionaires is expected to rise 46.2 percent to a record 49.3 million over the next five years, driven by China, the bank said.

Credit Suisse expects rising household wealth in the United States to benefit wealth management and consumer-oriented companies, including Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW.N), Affiliated Managers Group Inc (AMG.N), Visa Inc (V.N), Marriott International Inc (MAR.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Ralph Lauren Corp (RL.N) and Nike Inc (NKE.N).

China and India, which have more than doubled their share in global household wealth since 2000, are likely to record annual growth of above 9 percent, with China slightly outpacing India, Credit Suisse said.

(Reporting by Fareha Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Kirti Pandey)