Record number of millionaires are moving — investors should pay attention

A record 142,000 millionaires are expected to relocate internationally this year alone — and most investors still do not fully understand what this means for markets.

The movement of globally mobile wealth is rapidly becoming one of the defining investment forces of the decade. Capital is shifting across borders faster, more strategically and in greater volumes than at any point in modern financial history.

I sincerely believe that investors who fail to track those flows risk becoming disconnected from where opportunity is heading.

This is no longer simply about wealthy individuals changing residency, as perhaps it was back in the day. It’s about the international repositioning of assets, businesses, tax exposure, investment structures and long-term capital allocation.

The implications for markets are profound.

Affluent investors increasingly operate across multiple countries simultaneously. Their financial lives are spread internationally by design. Businesses may be headquartered in one jurisdiction, investments held in another, property portfolios located elsewhere and future retirement plans tied to entirely different regions.

Traditional wealth models built around geographic permanence are struggling to keep pace with this reality.

Many asset managers and advisers still construct portfolios around outdated assumptions of economic loyalty and domestic concentration. But globally mobile investors are increasingly focused on jurisdictional diversification, political stability, tax efficiency, international connectivity and currency exposure.

Capital itself is becoming more nomadic.

The winners from this shift are already emerging.

The UAE continues attracting extraordinary inflows of millionaires, entrepreneurs and international business owners. Dubai’s luxury property market has surged as wealthy individuals reposition assets and residency.

Singapore continues strengthening its role as Asia’s premier private wealth hub. Switzerland remains a magnet for capital preservation and international banking. Southern Europe continues attracting affluent investors through lifestyle migration and residency programmes.

At the same time, countries perceived as less competitive on taxation, regulation or political stability are experiencing visible capital leakage.

Britain is a striking example. The dismantling of the non-dom tax regime, combined with growing concerns over taxation and economic direction, is already accelerating the departure of entrepreneurs, investors and internationally mobile wealth. This is not ideological. Capital responds quickly to incentives, stability and efficiency.

Markets are beginning to reflect these flows.

International banks, luxury property developers, global insurers, private wealth platforms, private education providers and cross-border fintech businesses are all benefiting from rising international wealth mobility.

Gold’s surge to record highs also reflects this transformation. Increasing numbers of affluent investors now view geopolitical fragmentation, sovereign debt expansion and currency debasement as structural risks rather than temporary market noise.

Bitcoin is increasingly part of the same conversation.

Many globally mobile investors are drawn to assets operating independently of domestic political systems and traditional banking infrastructure. Bitcoin’s growing institutional legitimacy is reinforcing its role as a strategic diversification asset for internationally exposed portfolios.

This is also reshaping how investors evaluate countries themselves.

Political stability, taxation, legal systems, regulatory predictability and international accessibility are carrying increasing weight in capital allocation decisions. Investors are analysing governments with the same scrutiny once reserved primarily for corporations and balance sheets.

Canada is becoming increasingly important within this shift. Toronto has evolved into one of North America’s leading centres for banking, capital markets and internationally connected wealth, while the country continues attracting entrepreneurs, professionals and global capital seeking stability and opportunity.

The broader trend is unlikely to slow.

Remote work, international entrepreneurship, geopolitical fragmentation and the continued globalisation of high-income careers are all reinforcing wealth mobility. International diversification is no longer reserved for ultra-high-net-worth individuals alone.

As our work across the globe demonstrates without question, increasingly, upper-middle-income professionals, founders and executives are structuring their financial lives internationally from the outset.

This creates major long-term implications for investors.

The next generation of winning markets, sectors and companies is increasingly likely to emerge from the movement of global wealth itself.

Firms positioned around international capital flows, cross-border finance, globally mobile clients and jurisdictional diversification stand to benefit enormously.

Many investors are still underestimating the scale of this transformation. They shouldn’t.

Capital rarely moves randomly. It moves toward opportunity, stability, efficiency and growth.

Understanding where it is going may become one of the most important investment advantages of the next decade.