Rise in number of wealthy Malaysians looking to migrate

KUALA LUMPUR: More Malaysian ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) are looking to move abroad compared with the global average, said global property consultancy firm Knight Frank.
According to The Wealth Report 2016 published by the firm, 26% of Malaysian UHNWIs (individuals with net assets worth US$30 million or more) want to migrate compared with the global average of 18%.
The figure is second only to China, where 32% of its UHNWIs are looking to migrate.
Knight Frank Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Sarkunan Subramaniam said Malaysians are becoming more international and the trend will continue due to various opportunities available overseas including business and education opportunities.
In terms of push factors, he said Malaysian UHNWIs are looking to relocate abroad due to the lack of opportunities that may prevail here.
"Of course, the government is trying to improve the push factors here ... but if we are not as liberalised (as other countries), we may see more Malaysians moving to more liberal countries," he told reporters at a briefing on the report today.
According to the report, the top two reasons cited by its survey respondents in Asia on why their clients would consider moving abroad are quality of life and health as well as their children's education.
The report said that half of the Asian UHNWIs had in the past 10 years, expressed that they were more likely to send their children overseas for education.
"Over the next 10 years, this trend will continue with half of the respondents expecting their Asian clients' likelihood to send their children abroad for education to increase significantly; the Malaysian UHNWIs saw the highest at 77%," it said.