New money in Asia: Flexibility key to thrive in era of uncertainty
31 December 2025
Asia is on track to outpace every other region in wealth creation in the coming years — even as global trade tensions continue to recast supply chains and investment flows.
Asia’s growing share of global private wealth has been decades in the making: it climbed from just 6% to 21% over the past quarter-century, reflecting structural drivers that remain intact despite geopolitical volatility.[1]
Looking ahead, Asia is poised to lead global private wealth growth, driven by rapid urbanization, an expanding middle class, deepening trade links, and sustained investment to close an estimated $1.7 trillion annual infrastructure gap — creating significant business and revenue opportunities across the region.[2],[3]
Even the prospect of trade fragmentation due to heightened US tariffs has so far failed to derail Asia’s rise. In fact, major emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil have demonstrated surprising resilience.[4]
As many as 88% of global businesses remain confident about the growth of international trade, according to HSBC’s latest Global Trade Pulse survey.[5]
While tariff-related stresses may have abated somewhat, access to liquidity has never been more important. Innovative financing solutions, including non-bank credit, can help Asia’s business leaders stay nimble and respond quickly to shifting global conditions, especially as a global central bank easing cycle may soon be ending.[6]
Diverse wealth drivers
Asia’s growing list of millionaires are minting their fortunes in various ways.
Despite a real estate-driven downturn in the broader economy, nearly 1,500 individuals – a 31% increase within a single year – made it onto Hurun’s latest China Rich List, each with a net worth above RMB 5 billion, propelled by a broad bull market and the ascent of “new economy” sectors from biotech to smart manufacturing.[7]
China’s export engine has also defied sceptics, helping the country register a $1 trillion trade surplus in the first 11 months of 2025.[8] Chinese firms have diversified their production bases while maintaining control of supply networks.[9] Recent data shows more Chinese goods being rerouted through Vietnam, with Chinese and Hong Kong–owned firms accounting for more than half of the shift in one sample.[10]
India’s expansion, in contrast, is underpinned by a rare combination of demographics, policy and a sizeable low-cost pool of technology professionals. With a median age of 29, a fast-growing consumer class, and a transformative $205 billion infrastructure push — covering logistics corridors, clean energy and digital public rails — India is generating new wealth at a rapid clip.[11]
India’s role as a global capability center (GCC) hub is also accelerating. PwC estimates that value generated by Indian GCCs, which host companies offering outsourced functions like accounting or software development, for parent companies will grow by around 12% annually over the next four years.[12] This ecosystem is supporting not only multinational operations, but also creating a new class of technology executives and domestic founders with a global customer base. India now counts about 871,700 millionaire households in 2025 — nearly 90% more than in 2021.[13]
In Korea, Taiwan and Japan, a global scramble to build AI infrastructure will create a different kind of “new money” cohort, led by suppliers in the semiconductor and hardware chains.
Korean companies, for example, envisage spending around KRW65 trillion (approximately $49 billion) in AI infrastructure and data centers by 2027, reinforcing the country’s role as a critical player in the global AI build-out.[14]
UBS estimates that Japan has around 2.83 million US dollar millionaires, South Korea about 1.3 million, and Taiwan nearly 800,000.[15] The East Asia cohort includes not only executives working at headline chipmakers, but also founders and early shareholders in equipment makers, materials suppliers and specialist design houses deeply embedded in the AI supply chain.
Rising fortunes will increase demand for alternative funding and investment – an area where Asia has historically lagged the US and Europe. Such lenders dominate credit origination in the US (where they account for 67% of regional credit funding) and Europe (44%), whereas bank lending still dominates APAC at roughly 80%.[16]
Private credit remains largely untapped in Asia but participation by non-bank lenders is set to rise as assets under management are projected to grow from $59 billion in 2024 to $92 billion by 2027, according to a November industry report.[17]
Much of this non-bank credit will go to middle-market companies and entrepreneurial firms across technology, trade and AI sectors as they look beyond traditional bank loans. Equity-backed financing, in particular, can allow entrepreneurs to unlock liquidity from listed shareholdings without sacrificing long-term potential, enabling them to fund new ventures, bridge timing gaps that often arise when relying on bank loans, and maintain ownership.
Asia’s accelerating wealth creation and evolving financial landscape signal a transformative decade ahead — where private credit and alternative financing will become integral to unlocking growth and fueling innovation across the region.
[1] https://www.uob.com.sg/assets/web-resources/private/pdfs/our-insights/the-asia-generational-wealth-report/asia-generational-wealth-report-2025.pdf
[2] https://altrata.com/reports/world-ultra-wealth-report-2025
[3] https://www.adb.org/news/asia-infrastructure-needs-exceed-17-trillion-year-double-previous-estimates
[4] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/most-emerging-nations-can-realign-trade-weather-us-tariffs-report-finds-2025-11-13/
[5] https://www.business.hsbc.com/-/media/media/global/pdf/articles/hsbc-global-trade-pulse-survey-factsheet-november-2025.pdf
[6] https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/global-central-bank-easing-cycle-is-over-2025-12-10/
[7] https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3330544/rich-list-chinas-billionaire-count-hits-record-stock-markets-surge
[8] https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3335551/chinas-exports-rebound-november-after-trade-war-thaw
[9] https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/regulatory/article/asean-rides-the-china-wave-amid-us-trade-tensions-s101655293
[10] https://siai.org/review/2025/11/202511284156
[11] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-06-12/india-s-second-infrastructure-wave-could-draw-205-billion-modi-s-third-term
[12] https://www.pwc.in/press-releases/2025/india-gccs-set-to-generate-value-at-11-12-cagr-between-fy25-29.html
[13] https://www.fortuneindia.com/india/india-has-871-lakh-millionaire-households-up-90-from-2021-mercedes-benz-hurun-india-wealth-report-2025/126746
[14] https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-09-26/national/politics/Korean-companies-pledge-to-invest-65-trillion-won-at-presidential-AI-committees-inaugural-meeting/2142881
[15] https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealthmanagement/insights/global-wealth-report.html
[16] https://www.aima.org/asset/687D58D0%2DB317%2D47FC%2DAF68533C85A8A3B9/
[17] https://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/about-us/news/report-highlights-asia-pacific-s-growing-global-private-credit-market
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