Billionaires most upbeat on opportunities in North America: UBS survey

Stronger US economy predicted in 2025; respondents less optimistic about Asia-Pac

- Angela Tan

Billionaires around the world see the greatest investment opportunities in North America and are less optimistic about the Asia-Pacific.

About 80 per cent of the billionaires preferred North America over the next 12 months, according to a UBS survey that was conducted from June to end-September. This was up by 30 per cent from 2023.

Over five years, 68 per cent preferred North America.

"They're backing a country that's leading in technological innovation - for example, through generative AI or GLP-1 weight-loss drugs - which has the potential to boost labour productivity at a time when labour is in short supply," said UBS, bank to the super-rich.

The findings in UBS' report are based on an online survey of 82 billionaire clients in 2024, as well as research by consultancy PWC which tracked the wealth of more than 2,500 billionaires in 47 markets, focusing on the past 10 years.

The US stock market's record-breaking rally has lifted global billionaires' wealth to a new high of US$14 trillion (S$18.7 trillion).

The tech bull market sparked by ChatGPT's launch in late 2022 continues to boost the net worth of billionaires pioneering generative AI's practical applications. Tech billionaires have tripled their wealth over the last decade, from US$789 billion in 2015 to US$2.4 trillion.