Billionaires in US, Southeast Asia Say Higher Taxes Are Top Risk

This content was published on May 22, 2024 - 10:00

2 minutes

(Bloomberg) — Billionaire families in the US and Southeast Asia say higher taxes are the biggest risk over the next five years, topping other concerns including major conflicts and climate change, according to a new report.

A UBS Group AG survey of family offices — the firms set up by the world’s richest clans to manage their lives and wealth — found higher taxes were cited as the top five-year risk by 73% of US and 59% of Southeast Asian respondents.

By contrast, despite ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, only 55% of US and 52% of Southeast Asian family offices respectively cited “major geopolitical conflict” as a top risk over the same period.

Even in the Middle East, close to some of the worst fighting in recent years, less than half the family offices based there named conflict as a top concern in the next five years, with a “financial market crisis” a bigger worry cited by 57%.

To be sure, family offices across all regions combined ranked geopolitics as the biggest risk, both over the next 12 months and five years, the survey found. Around 71% of European firms cited it as a top risk over the next five years, followed by climate change.

The responses come as governments around the world seek ways of reaping more revenue from the super rich, from US President Joe Biden’s proposed “billionaire minimum tax” to Singapore’s efforts to hike rates on properties and cars.

The annual UBS Global Family Office Report had 320 respondents, up from 230 a year earlier. The average net worth of each participating family was $2.6 billion. The survey was taken from January to March this year.