The Merlion statue within the central enterprise district of Singapore, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Lionel Ng | Bloomberg | Getty Photos
A model of this text first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth e-newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly information to the high-net-worth investor and shopper. Enroll to obtain future editions, straight to your inbox.
Moneyed entrepreneurs want to transfer, however not essentially for the explanations you’d count on, in keeping with a brand new survey by HSBC.
The financial institution polled 2,939 enterprise homeowners with not less than $2 million in investible property or a complete web price of $20 million throughout April and Might of this yr. A whopping 57% reported they have been contemplating including a brand new residence over the following 12 months, up from 55% in final yr’s survey. Wanderlust is larger amongst Gen Z entrepreneurs, with simply over three-quarters in that cohort reporting they have been contemplating a transfer.
When requested about their causes for shifting to a brand new nation, solely a 3rd of all respondents cited tax effectivity as a motivator. Tax financial savings ranked eighth total behind different elements equivalent to improved safety and security (47%) and higher schooling alternatives (52%). Respondents to the survey might choose a number of choices. The preferred motives at 67% every have been to develop their enterprise to new markets or to realize entry to new funding alternatives. The need for a greater high quality of life got here in a detailed third at 63%.
Taxes, the report stated, “create acres of stories protection, however among the many majority of our entrepreneurs, this doesn’t look like the deciding issue about the place to dwell.”
The report comes as a wealth tax proposal has gained traction in France and amid fears that current U.Ok. tax adjustments will trigger a wealth exodus.
A comparatively small proportion of U.S. respondents to the HSBC survey cited curiosity in shifting, however those that did have been more than likely to point out curiosity in experiencing a brand new tradition, accounting for 72% versus the worldwide common of 57% and a median of 61% for ultra-high-net-worth people price not less than $100 million. Based on the report, French entrepreneurs “are most content material to take pleasure in their very own tradition” as solely 39% indicated curiosity in shifting.
Respondents have been more than likely to quote Singapore (12%) or the UK (10%) as potential locations, with Japan and Switzerland tied at 9%. Regardless of the survey being performed within the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement in early April, the U.S. was cited by 8% of respondents, the identical share as final yr. Nonetheless, the U.S. got here in fifth when it comes to most-desired areas for shifting after tying for second place final yr.
This yr’s report famous that Japan has gained traction with Asian entrepreneurs.
Switzerland was the one nation the place attaining a greater high quality of life was a much bigger draw (57%) than accessing funding alternatives (49%) or increasing a enterprise (48%). It was additionally the one hotspot aside from Japan the place experiencing a brand new tradition ranked larger than academic alternatives.
Whereas entrepreneurs usually tend to think about shifting for enterprise causes, they have been extra more likely to cite worries about adjusting to a brand new atmosphere (40%) than about reestablishing their enterprise operations (36%).
