Latin American household's financial assets up 13%

Gross financial assets of private households in Latin America grew around 13% in 2012, according to the latest Global Wealth Report by Allianz. The rate placed the region in third in terms of asset growth, behind Asia (excluding Japan) and Oceania. Globally, gross financial assets expanded 8.1% in 2012, reaching 111tn euros (US$150tn currently). Over the long term, Latin America is also the third-fastest growing region, clocking a CAGR of 13.2% from 2001-12. "Despite this positive development, the region is still battling with pronounced social and economic imbalances among the population," Allianz said in the report. "In much of Latin America, poverty rates are still alarmingly high." Nearly half of Latin American households' financial assets were concentrated in securities in 2012. Globally, the distribution was more or less even among securities (36%), banking deposits (32%) and insurance policies and pensions (30%). Of the three asset classes, banking deposits expanded at the slowest clip in the year at 6.7%. While emerging regions like Latin America have tended to outpace developed economies in terms of growth, the bulk of financial assets remain concentrated in the later group. Nonetheless, emerging regions have made significant gains over the last decade. In 2000, for example, richer countries accounted for 93.6% of gross financial assets, compared to 82.5% in 2012, according to the report. Latin America's share expanded from 0.5% to 1.6% in the same comparison.