As Asia-Pacific pushed past North America to become the region with the most high net worth individuals, Europe became something of a laggard in 2014, compared to the previous year, according to the latest World Wealth Report.

Growth in the global high net worth population and its wealth was more modest in 2014 than the previous year, but the picture is positive and not short of opportunities for the wealth sector, executives told WealthBriefing's sister publication, speaking about industry trends highlighted in the 2015 World Wealth Report.

Robust growth in North America and Asia-Pacific drove - not for the first time - the 6.7 per cent and 7.2 per cent increases in the global HNWI population and wealth respectively, with wealth across the world projected to cross $70 trillion by 2017, the report by RBC Wealth Management and Capgemini said.

For David Wilson, head of strategic analysis at Capgemini, one of the most surprising findings is the extent to which there is demand for automated advisory services; globally, 49 per cent of HNWIs would consider using a "robo" advisor - particularly younger individuals - and “only 20 per cent of wealth managers thought this would be the case,” he said.

This is just as much an opportunity for the sector as it is a challenge, Wilson noted, because many of these clients equally are demanding holistic, goals-based financial planning - across the age spectrum. “The bottom line is, I think, firms need to be able to provide a lot - done well.”

Europe's key trends

Europe's fragile economic recovery was evident in its lower than average growth of wealth. As the region's high net worth population grew by 4 per cent to 4 million, their wealth rose by 4.6 per cent to $13.0 trillion, compared to global average growth rates of 6.7 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively.

The region's tempered performance came against a backdrop of oil price declines and a general downward trend for commodity prices. Also contributing to Europe's underwhelming growth was Greece's debt crisis – the weekend's breakdown in talks between Greek and EU officials further darkened the outlook here.

With regards to specific approaches to investing, Europe's high net worth invested most heavily in equities at almost a quarter (23.9 per cent) of portfolios. Of the 38.1 per cent of wealth they invested into other regions, the US took the lion's share with 11.7 per cent.

They also represented notably higher levels of credit usage than the global average, with a fifth of their assets financed through borrowed money compared to the global average of 17.8 per cent.

Globally, the two main drivers of credit usage for HNWIs were investments, at 40 per cent, and real estate, at 22 per cent. Leveraging for business purposes and investments of passion were other drivers behind credit-financed assets.

Despite the high value nine in 10 European HNWIs place on making a social impact, this year's report showed almost a fifth were not receiving advice on related opportunities, while nearly half (48 per cent) are interested in receiving more social impact advice from their primary wealth manager. Almost a quarter (24.5 per cent) value their wealth manager for the “how” - ways in which they can pursue social impact opportunities – compared to the 21.4 per cent who rely on their family for this. As for the “what” - selecting the opportunities – they are more reliant on family, at 32.8 per cent compared to the 27 per cent dependant on wealth managers.

Asia-Pacific's key trends

Asia-Pacific claimed the lead, overtaking the US, with the highest HNWI population (8.5 per cent) and wealth growth rates (11.4 per cent) across the globe. As the region's GDP grew by 5.8 per cent last year, compared to 5.7 per cent in 2013, it became home to the largest high net worth population at 4.69 million.

India propelled this growth. As the "Modi revolution" took shape, the country's HNWI population grew the most by 26 per cent, as did its wealth, by 28 per cent. Here, early signs of political and economic change accompanied a strong-performing equity market and favourable macro conditions - notably the fall in oil prices, which saved the oil-importing region billions of dollars.

As for investing behaviours, the credit story took significant force in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, where credit usage was even higher than Europe at 25.5 per cent of assets. Meanwhile, cash remained the dominant asset class for HNWIs in Asia-Pacific. The Japanese high net worth in particular favoured cash, allocating the highest proportion into cash compared to their global peers. Their main reasons for doing so was in order to maintain their lifestyle, for 38.7 per cent, and to cushion against market volatility, for 30.7 per cent.

The global breakdown of sources of wealth was fairly evenly split between inheritance, income and entrepreneurship/business ownership. For Asia though, where new money continued to stream in, there was a prominent swing towards business ownership – an indicator no doubt to watch this space.