A record number of millionaires could leave the United Kingdom this year as political turmoil and the potential for higher taxes under a future Labour government reduce the appeal of what was once among the top destinations for the rich.
As many as 9,500 people with at least $1 million in liquid, investable assets, will leave the country, more than double the number that left in 2023, according to provisional estimates contained in a report Tuesday by migration advisers Henley & Partners.
“These figures reflect a steady accumulation of factors detracting from the UK’s appeal to high-net-worth individuals,” Hannah White, CEO of the Institute for Government, wrote in the report. “The hangover from Brexit continues to be felt, with the City of London no longer seen as the financial center of the world.”
The report is based on data on 150,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) tracked by investment firm New World Wealth. The firm only counts people who stay in their new country more than half of the year, and focuses primarily on company founders, chairs, CEOs, presidents, directors and managing partners.
The continuing exodus from the UK — 16,500 millionaires left between 2017 and 2023 — is part of a global mass migration of the rich that appears to be accelerating. The Henley Private Wealth Migration report found that 128,000 millionaires are set to relocate this year, beating last year’s record by 8,000.
“As the world grapples with a perfect storm of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and social upheaval, millionaires are voting with their feet in record numbers,” Dominic Volek, head of private clients at Henley & Partners, said in a press release.
A record number of millionaires could leave the United Kingdom this year as political turmoil and the potential for higher taxes under a future Labour government reduce the appeal of what was once among the top destinations for the rich.
COULD leave
POTENTIAL for higher taxes
As many as 9,500 people with at least $1 million in liquid, investable assets, will leave the country, more than double the number that left in 2023, according to provisional estimates contained in a report Tuesday by migration advisers Henley & Partners.
I get that cnn is just barely reputable tier news source, but you can read the actual report instead of having to filter out the cnn ELI5. That report is here: The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2024
They're tracking these wealthy people:
"New World Wealth tracks the movements of over 150,000 high-net-worth individuals in its in-house database, with a special focus on those with over USD 30 million in listed company holdings. The database’s primary focus is on company founders (50%+ of the database) and individuals from high-value companies who hold the following positions: chairperson, CEO, president, director, and managing partner."
... and can see the actions a person takes before leaving with Visa filings and other actions:
"Most migrating high-net-worth individuals do so via work visas, ancestry visas, and family visas or owing to having additional passports by birthright. New World Wealth estimates that currently around 25% opt for investment migration programs to secure residence rights or additional citizenships."
I believe their estimates:
"It is important to note that the high-net-worth-individual migration figures in this report and dashboard focus only on people who have truly moved, namely, those who stay in their new country more than half of the year. Many wealthy individuals acquire residence rights for countries but never relocate to those countries. Such individuals are excluded from our figures, which are therefore on the conservative side."
It looks like this is part of the management consultancy they do as a business. They likely base their projections on key indicators from prior years that prove out. So when they say they X number of leaving, I'm betting they're pretty close. This report alone has 18 authors and contributors at that company.
It didn't even occur to me that this might be anything other than a completely real story about a sensible reaction to the still unfolding and worsening consequences of the Tories absolutely goatfucking the economy of the entire country, on purpose and for literally no reason at all, in 2016.
Assuming they actually leave - cool. Less lobbying for 1% policies, and the UK can replace their potential investments by new pounds of public investment injected into the economy. I hear some infrastructure needs repairs and upgrades.
I'm not exactly a millionaire but I'd be willing to leave the UK if it wasn't such a hassle. It's been quite a while since I've felt any national pride in the things we're doing or our collective priorities.
The likelihood of having even more overseas parties with massive stakes in our economy, infrastructure, and housing with a somehow greater degree of detachment from their impact doesn't sound great for anyone.
You really need to read the article IMO, OP only post a half cutout for some reason???
Now there’s a new risk on the horizon. Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, which is leading Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives by a margin of about 20% in opinion polls,
That would probably mean Labour gets about 80% of the seats. I seriously doubt UK will be able to right itself under the current political system.
Because then labor will increase taxes to improve services, and people will not feel the improvement and think they get nothing, because it takes time to build what Conservatives have torn down.
Labor is probably lucky if they get 2 terms. And they need to get things passed in the house of lords, which will undermine the Labor government. Then the people will forget how shitty Conservatives are, and vote them back in, because they don't feel Labor is doing a good enough job with their money.
This will cause an absolute majority to Conservatives because of the idiotic first past the post system, and Conservatives will tear down everything Labor has built, either good or bad.
The first past the post system is a disease that undermines democracy to make it almost totally dysfunctional. We see the same in USA.
It's an attempt to sacrifice democracy for efficiency, and the end result is that both are ruined.
Now whether millionaires are fleeing or not IDK, but they may not be worth much for UK society any way. Millionaires use more public services and pay less, so it may in fact be good riddance, unless they actually contribute. But I do believe it may be a symptom of a society that doesn't work as well as it used to, so those that have the means, choose other options.
They don't need to increase taxes to do that. They can print as much pounds as needed to put all the available labor needed to improve services and infrastructure as fast as possible. Faster than if they had to tax the money first. I don't know if they'll do that though. :D
No they can't, that creates hyper inflation and ruins the economy. If that was an option, why do you think not every government does that instead of taxes?
They could be leaving the UK because they are afraid that Labour might actually make them pay taxes, or because they are sick of living in a Brexit-damaged UK. You'll never know.