Finance

Here’s where the world’s top 0.001% are putting their money, according to wealth experts

Published

9 months ago

April 22, 2024

Yana Iskayeva | Moment | Getty Images

The uber wealthy live a world apart and their investing strategies also look vastly different from the average investor’s portfolio.

“While there is no official threshold, centimillionaires or individuals with a total net worth of over $100 million, is a good benchmark as entry into the 0.001% club,” said Kevin Teng, CEO of WRISE Wealth Management Singapore, a wealth enterprise for ultra-high net worth individuals.

Globally, the population of centimillionaires stands at around 28,420 individuals, and are largely concentrated in New York City, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, London and Beijing, according to data from WRISE.

They bestow knighthood on you in the United States when you buy an NFL team.

Salvatore Buscemi

CEO of Dandrew Partners

“These cities boast robust financial infrastructure, vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems, and lucrative real estate markets, making them attractive destinations for the ultra-wealthy?,” Teng told CNBC.

And this demographic that “epitomizes extreme wealth” is selective when it comes to investments, Teng said.

“They don’t invest in get rich, quick things, illiquid things today. For example, that means they don’t really do publicly traded equities,” said Salvatore Buscemi, CEO of Dandrew Partners, a private family investment office.

“They actually don’t even invest in crypto, believe it or not,” Buscemi told CNBC via Zoom. “What they’re looking for is to preserve their legacy and their wealth.”

1. Real estate

As a result, centimillionaire portfolios often feature “very strong, stable pieces of real estate,” Buscemi said. These wealthy individuals gravitate toward “trophy asset” Class A properties, or investment-grade assets that typically were built within the last 15 years.

Michael Sonnenfeldt, founder and chairman of Tiger 21 — a network of ultra-high net worth entrepreneurs and investors — told CNBC that real estate investments typically represent 27% of these individuals’ portfolios.

2. Family offices as investment vehicles

Individuals of such wealth generally have their money managed by single family offices, which handle everything including their inheritance, household bills, credit cards, immediate family expenses, etc., said Andrew Amoils, an analyst at global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.

“These family offices often have foundation arms for charities and venture capital arms that invest in high growth startups,” said Amoils.

The number of family offices in the world has tripled since 2019, topping 4,500 worldwide last year with an estimated $6 trillion in assets under management combined.

3. Alternative investments?

Ultra high net worth individuals also explore potentially buying stakes in professional sports teams, said Dandrew’s Buscemi.

“That’s a very, very insulated group to get into and requires a lot more than just money,” he said.

The exclusivity is a major appeal as these wealthy individuals want to mingle with people of similar status, Buscemi explained. Owning a stake in a sports team is a way for these individuals to legitimize their status, he said.

Owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys welcomes fans to training camp at River Ridge Complex on July 24, 2021 in Oxnard, California.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

“They bestow knighthood on you in the United States when you buy an NFL team,” he said, like how American businessman and billionaire Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989.

WRISE’s Teng also noted that 0.001% individuals pay more attention to fixed income, private credit and alternative investments. He said private credit is gaining traction as investors seek sources of yield outside of conventional markets.

“This trend reflects a growing appetite for non-traditional assets that offer unique risk-return profiles,” said Teng, noting that alternative investments include venture capital, private equity and real assets.

Finance

NFLX, UAL, IBKR and more

Published

15 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

David Einhorn says we have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle

Published

17 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Business Finance News

David Einhorn, President at Greenlight Capital, speaking at the 14th CNBC Delivery Alpha Investor Summit in New York City on Nov. 13th, 2024.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn thinks speculative behavior in the current bull market has ascended to a level beyond common sense.

“We have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle,” Einhorn wrote in an investor letter obtained by CNBC. “Other than trading and speculation, it serves no other obvious purpose and fulfills no need that is not served elsewhere.”

A crypto token called “fartcoin” exploded in popularity as the re-election of Donald Trump unleashed a storm of animal spirits on Main Street. The meme coin is now edging towards a $2 billion market value, surpassing many U.S.-listed companies.

More meme coins have emerged since the inception of fartcoin. President Donald Trump launched $TRUMP, a meme coin built on the Solana platform. Its market cap over the weekend climbed past $14 billion. The coin at one point was down more than 20% over the past 24 hours, but it has since cut its losses to around 3%. Trump’s wife Melania also unveiled a coin.

“Nothing stops the launch of many more tradable coins,” Einhorn said. “Perhaps we are leaving the Fartcoin stage of the market and entering the Trump (and Melania) memecoin stage. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen next, but it feels like it’s going to be wild.”

Einhorn’s letter comes as investors drive equities higher, buoyed by expectations of lower taxes and deregulation from the second Trump administration. On Tuesday, the day after the inauguration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied more than 400 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.

Shorting leveraged bitcoin ETFs

Greenlight took advantage of the craziness around crypto during the fourth quarter by betting against some popular ETFs linked indirectly to bitcoin.

The two funds the firm focused on were the T-Rex 2X Long MSTR Daily Target ETF (MSTU) and the Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MSTR ETF (MSTX). Those funds use derivatives to try to achieve two-times the daily returns of MicroStrategy, a software company that has turned itself into a bitcoin treasury vehicle in recent years.

The funds have at times struggled to achieve that goal due to MicroStrategy’s volatility and little supply of the derivatives most easily used to get the leveraged returns.

The letter said Greenlight took short positions against those funds during the quarter, partially offset by owning MicroStrategy stock in an arbitrage trade that was a “material winner.”