An emerald and jade fashion show in Kunming, China on Sept. 14. The Asia-Pacific region has become the main market targeted by wealth management companies. (Photo/Xinhua)

With the number of wealthy individuals in the Asia-Pacific region exceeding North America for the first time in 2011, the Asia-Pacific offshore wealth market led by Hong Kong and Singapore has become the prime target for wealth management companies, according to the 2010 Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released by Capgemini and the Royal Bank of Canada on Sept. 19.

The report said the number of high-net-worth individuals in the region in 2011 reached 3.37 million. These individuals are defined by having at least US$1 million available for investment, not including residences, private collections, consumer products and durable goods.

The report shows that the number of people in the Asia-Pacific region who meet these criteria have increased at a steady but uneven pace over the past year: Thailand (12.8% growth), Indonesia (8.2%), Mainland China (5.2%) and Japan (4.8%) have increased rapidly but India (-18%) and Hong Kong (-17.4%), two countries saw rapid growth in the previous two years are now seeing a significant reduction in the growth of new millionaires.

The survey also shows that the Asia-Pacific economy is facing many challenges involving the outflow of funds which has caused the overall wealth of these individuals to decline by 1.1%.

The report predicts that China and India will remain the world's fastest-growing economies in 2012 and the GDP growth for region (excluding Japan) will reach 6.1% this year, and 6.6% in 2013.