According to the world wealth survey done by Capgemini and Merill Lynch for the year 2009, the HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals or the richest people on earth) of the world invest most of their money in Fixed income and equities followed by Real estate.

HNWIs are defined as those having investable assets of US$1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables.

Some points to note:

• Equity holdings are more preffered among European and North American HNWIs.
• HNWIs from Latin America and Japan are most conservative, with HWNIs in each region holding 52% of their aggregate portfolios in either cash/deposits or fixed-income, despite surging equities prices.
• HNWIs in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan still have the world’s highest allocation to real estate investment overall, and to residential real estate in particular, after an exponential boom in real estate investment in recent years. Direct real estate investment in the region jumped 56% year-on-year in the second half of 2009 to an estimated US$25 billion47. By end-2009, 28% of the assets held by the region’s HNWIs were in real estate.
• HNWIs in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan also had the greatest proportional exposure to residential real estate (60% of all real-estate investments). For many in that region, residential property remains a highly attractive investment because tight supply and strong demand endure in most prime locations. The price of luxury residences in Asia-Pacific grew by 17.1% in 2009, with prices in cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing surging by more than 40%, reaching record global levels.

If you also had the same frame of mind as the HNWI's of worls and had invested in Equities, Fixed income and real estate, then you might be the next to add yourself to the HNWI list in future!!