According to the Attitudes Survey conducted by Knight Frank, 28 per cent of Indian respondents said political and economic factors in the country of residence (India) will be favourable for wealth creation and protection in 2019, more than twice the global average that stands at 12 per cent.

Meanwhile, 36 per cent expect wealth creation might become difficult as opposed to 68 per cent of global respondents, due to domestic factors in their country of residence, indicating a largely positive outlook in 2019 for India. In the context of global markets, around 56 per cent of all respondents from India said it would be more difficult to create and protect wealth due to global factors in 2019, as opposed to 62 per cent of global respondents.

Taking stock of the developments from the previous year, the survey also asked respondents to indicate whether it was easy or difficult to create and maintain wealth in 2018. Globally, 70 per cent of survey respondents said the political and economic environment within their country of residence made it difficult for them to create and protect their wealth in 2018 compared to 2017. Almost the same percentage has echoed similar sentiments for the year 2019.

Knight Frank conducted the survey to understand how UHNWIs (Ultra High Networth Individuals) perceive the influence of political and economic environment – globally and within the country of residence – to create or protect their wealth.

The last decade has seen unprecedented levels of central bank intervention, as countries have attempted to fend off the effects of the global financial crisis. Despite speculation that another global recession may be on the horizon, asset purchase programmes in the US, UK, Europe and Japan have largely served their purpose.

“Despite being election year, Indian UHNWIs are more optimistic about of the country’s growth journey and expect wealth to increase in 2019. This is a solid testimony of strong economic fundamentals built in the country, owing to the various economic reforms and structuring. India remains one of the key growth engines of the world economy, which, coupled with improving indices like ease of doing business, have further ensured investors have a positive outlook towards the country. This is in juxtaposition to the uncertainty around US-China trade tensions, the Chinese economic slowdown and Brexit, which have impacted overall global growth sentiment, but have further strengthened Indian UHNWIs’ outlook for domestic markets,” says Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India.