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.

  • partial_accumen
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    79 days ago

    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.

    • @davidagain
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      49 days ago

      So plenty of FUD from a firm that… Helps wealthy tax avoiders avoid tax. OK.

      • partial_accumen
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        39 days ago

        So plenty of FUD from a firm that…

        I only skimmed 5 pages or so of the report but, I’m not seeing much FUD. It looks like analysis from primary and secondary sources. You can certainly disagree with their conclusions. I’m not versed enough in that industry to speak authoritatively on it.

        Helps wealthy tax avoiders avoid tax. OK.

        It absolutely can be used for that. Or more specifically, there are those that are already doing that and this can provide other the path to do the same.

        • @davidagain
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          19 days ago

          I’m not versed enough in that industry to speak authoritatively on it.

          In the tax avoidance industry? No, me neither.

          I’m not sure why you lend such credence to stuff churned out by people with such obvious and clear self-interest in the assertions they’re making. “Grown-ups taking over running the country from incompetents and disaster capitalists spells trouble for the filthy rich who may well leave the country” is such a well-worn and nakedly self-serving line I don’t know why you take it so seriously. Like, their whole thing, literally everything they do is to reduce tax for the ultra wealthy. Of course they’re not going to be keen that the economy-crashing “reduce taxes at the top end” party are leaving government, they might have to work even harder than before to exploit a shrinking pool of loopholes. I lost my tiny violin, so I’m all out of sob-story music for them.

    • sunzu
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      fedilink
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      edit-2
      9 days ago

      You got so much more to learn about how the real world works.

      • partial_accumen
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        29 days ago

        It feels like that education you’re suggesting may involve a cork bulletin board with documents and photographs tacked on it connected varying lengths of red yarn.

        • sunzu
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          fedilink
          19 days ago

          I aint never shy to talk shop on some tinfoil but no that’s not what we got here.

          "Henley & Partners is the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment. Each year, hundreds of wealthy individuals and their advisors rely on our expertise and experience in this area. The firm’s highly qualified professionals work together as one team in over 55 offices worldwide.

          The concept of residence and citizenship by investment was created by Henley & Partners in the 1990s. As globalization has expanded, residence and citizenship have become topics of significant interest among the increasing number of internationally mobile entrepreneurs and investors whom we proudly serve every day."

          https://www.henleyglobal.com/

          These clowns literally shill for the rich because that’s their clients… learn how to check your sources and their bias, dear.

          • partial_accumen
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            39 days ago

            learn how to check your sources and their bias, dear.

            You’re telling me to check my sources? Before I got here, “the source” was a half-assed summary of a summary from CNN.com. I’m the one that found the original authors and the original report from the CNN article, honey.

            These clowns literally shill for the rich because that’s their clients…

            Of course they’re shills for the rich, everyone is that serves that market. You’ve made a total of 4 posts in this thread so far. Not a single one is offering an opinion on the topic. I have no idea what you agree or disagree with on the topic except 50% of your posts here are attacking people with ad homiem or vague references of superiority.

            Any time you’d like to join the conversation on the topic with a post of substance, you’d be welcome. So far I’m seeing nothing from you.