The Global Race For The Wealthy, And Why Switzerland Keeps Winning

Record numbers of millionaires are leaving their home countries. LINDEMANNLAW founding partner Dr. Alexander Schiemenz speaks to the NZZ on what is driving the exodus, and why Switzerland remains the destination of choice.

The competition for the world’s wealthy is intensifying. According to figures cited by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, a record 165,000 millionaires are expected to emigrate this year, roughly triple the level of 2013 (Henley & Partners). As governments raise taxes and political uncertainty grows, high-net-worth individuals and skilled entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly mobile, and countries are competing openly to attract them.

The pressure is most visible in three markets. The United Kingdom’s abolition of the non-dom status prompted more than 10,000 millionaires to leave in a single year. Norway’s wealth-tax increases drove some 300 individuals, holding assets of at least €100 million each, around €50 billion in total, to relocate, many of them to Switzerland.