South Africa is one of the unequal countries in the world which means that what\u00a0it takes to be ‘rich’ can be highly subjective.<\/p>\n
A March 2019 report from Bloomberg<\/a> <\/strong>found that you will need $162,000 (R2.21 million<\/strong>) annual pre-tax income to be considered in the top 1% of earners in the country.<\/p>\n This is significantly higher than India (R1.1 million) and China (R1.43 million), but substantially lower compared to developed nations such as the USA (R6.5 million) and the UAE (R12.1 million).<\/p>\n However, finance researchers have traditionally used the more general term of \u2018high net-worth individuals\u2018 (HNWIs), and the barrier for entry into that elite group is $1 million (R14.45 million).<\/p>\n According to the latest data on high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in the Knight Frank report, at the end of 2018, there were approximately 52,926 HNWIs in South Africa, each with net assets of $1 million or more.<\/p>\n At the end of December 2017, there were 51,110 HNWIs recorded, pointing to an increase of 1,800 dollar millionaires over the period.<\/p>\n Further, the group expects the number of HWNIs in the country to grow by 16% to 61,474 millionaires over the next five years \u2013 running counter to the idea that wealth is leaving the country en masse.<\/p>\n Private Wealth\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n To open an FNB Private Wealth account you will need an annual salary of R1.5 million and investable assets of R15 million.<\/p>\n By comparison, you will need an annual salary of R1.1 million to open a Standard Bank Signature account, and an annual salary of R750,000 to open an Absa Private Banking account.<\/p>\n The table below outlines the various requirements needed to access private banking in South Africa, as well as an average value based on the numbers.<\/p>\n Taking the above into consideration, the value to be considered a HNWI in South Africa is more or less on par with the $1 million used by researchers, in that the average ‘rich’ person who qualifies for private banking, would either have a monthly salary of R94,100 a month – or net assets worth R13 million.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Bank<\/th>\n Annual salary needed<\/th>\n Monthly salary needed<\/th>\n Investable assets<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n FNB Private Wealth<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n R1 500 000<\/td>\n R125 000<\/td>\n R15 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Nedbank Private Wealth<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n R1 500 000<\/td>\n R125 000<\/td>\n R5 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Standard Bank Signature<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n R1 100 000<\/td>\n R92 000<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Investec Private Bank<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n R800 000<\/td>\n R66 700<\/td>\n R20 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Absa Private Banking<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n R750 000<\/td>\n R62 500<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Average<\/strong><\/td>\n R1 130 000<\/strong><\/td>\n R94 100<\/strong><\/td>\n R13 million<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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