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People with assets of $250,000 to $1 million are set to become a new battleground for the world's financial firms as declining margins push them to seek out pockets of wealth further down the scale.
About 76 million people with $18 trillion sit in that range today and another 4 million are joining the group each year, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group. Competition to serve them is heating up as banks, fintechs, asset managers and online brokers jostle for position.
Wealth managers including UBS Group AG, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Corp. have focused their expansion on clients with fast-growing fortunes of tens of millions to billions of dollars.
A big part of that, managing offshore wealth, has become more risky and less rewarding as authorities crack down on money laundering, tax evasion and hidden wealth following a long series of high profile scandals.
"One of the largest areas for potential expansion is also one of the most overlooked: the affluent segment," according to the report. "This base of potential clients for wealth management services shows extraordinary promise."
