While global uncertainty fuels anxiety, drives interest rates up and strains everyday peoples’ wallets, one thing remains true: 2026 is a good time to be a high net worth individual.
As said before, the number of UHNW individuals globally is growing, but at an even higher rate within Australia.
“Australia outperforms in many ways in terms of economic growth, but also in terms of this wealth story,” Liam Baily, global head of research at Knight Frank, told a Praemium webinar.
“I think one of the things for the Australian market is this unique proposition where wealth is created in every industry.”
Bailey specified several factors for this, including a strong, domestically led housing market, especially in Sydney.
“Sydney is beating Miami, London and Singapore. I know that there are foreign buyers here, but this is a predominately domestic market,” he explained.
“To have a domestic-led market, very different from placed like London and New York, goes to show the strength of the underlying wealth story in terms of the context here.”
With this rise in UHNW Australians comes increased opportunities for Australian Financial Advisers. When your largest problem in life is knowing what to do with your vast wealth, an adviser becomes a necessity, with the UHNW market being a reliable market for the industry.
While advice around traditional investments, such as stocks, property and EFTs, and around lightening tax loads and legacy will remain core to what the UHNW demographic will be seeking guidance on, if the recent Knight Frank research is anything to indicate, the advice could also shift to focus on how to make wealth more “mobile”.
Much of the world’s wealthy, according to Knight Franks 2026 ‘Wealth Report’, are looking to become more mobile. Private jet and super-yacht sales are up, highlighting a trend of a wealthy elite looking to spread their wealth globally, mean Australian advisers might be dealing with more overseas clients looking to operate within the Australian market.
“Geopolitical risk aside, the expansion of these hubs is reshaping how wealth operates. Wealthy individuals are owning homes and running businesses across multiple cities – and moving between them more frequently,” the report said.
Bailey expanded on this, highlighting that in the future, the average ultra-wealthy client is going to have slightly different needs and desires, and that there will be a whole lot more of them.
“We are in this plutonomy environment still, but it is a more complex and more mobile. As taxation rises, as political risk rises, we see our clients becoming more mobile with their money, or even themselves and their families.”