Among the damages of the Covid they investments public to restart theeconomy, citizens have gone through the pandemic seeing their own rise savings (+78%) but also with a notable pickaxe to their financial certainties in many cases. Allianz today presented the twelfth edition of its “Global Wealth Report”, which examines in detail the financial and debt situation of families in nearly 60 countries.
The year of contrasts
The 2020 it was the year of the contrasts extremes. Covid-19 has destroyed millions of lives and livelihoods, and the world economy has plunged into its deepest recession since World War II. At the same time, states and central banks have mobilized unimaginable sums to support the economy, markets and people. And with success: incomes have stabilized and stock markets have recovered quickly. With this favorable wind, household wealth resisted the Covid-19 crisis in 2020: global gross financial assets increased by 9.7%, reaching the incredible 200 trillion euro threshold for the first time.
The savings boom
The savings was the driver principal: since lockdowns have drastically reduced consumption opportunities, the global phenomenon of “forced saving” has arisen. New savings increased by 78% to € 5.2 trillion in 2020, an all-time record. Inflows on bank deposits almost tripled (+ 187%). Bank deposits accounted for half or more of new savings across all markets considered. Consequently, for the first time, world bank deposits grew at a double-digit rate of 11.9%; the previous peak of growth was 8% in the year of the financial crisis (2008). While the value of stocks – buoyed by the rally in markets – grew by 10.9%, insurance and pension fund assets showed significantly weaker growth, growing by 6.3%.
Vaccine effect
In 2021, after a start of the year subdued, the continuous bottlenecks in the trade global and the new variants of the virus they have imposed new restrictions. Nonetheless, global GDP will grow strongly in 2021, fueled by vaccination campaigns that allow economies to reopen and return to normal. In addition, expansionary monetary policies and generous public support remain in place. Aside from any major corrections in the equity markets, 2021 should prove to be another positive year for them, with overall growth in financial assets globally of around 7%.
The situation in Italy
The financial assets gross of families Italian in 2020 they increased by only 2.2%, below the Western European regional average of 5.8%. In fact, only Spain, where financial assets actually shrank, experienced weaker growth in 2020. How can this be explained? The value of the securities fell by 3.5% (they are 39% of all financial assets), reflecting the weak performance of the Italian stock market and the fact that Italian households – in stark contrast to most of their “neighbors ”- they withdrew money from the capital markets, continuing to unload bonds. Bank deposits, on the other hand, increased by 7.2%, the largest increase since the days before the Great Financial Crisis, fueled by record inflows of new savings that jumped 70% in 2020. Finally, insurance and fund assets pension grew by a very solid 6.4%. The portfolio share of this asset class is still modest: 25% compared to the Western European average of 39%, although it has increased by more than 10 percentage points since 2009, inversely the share referring to stocks which have lost almost 10 percentage points .
Net financial assets
The financial assets onlinefinally, they increased by 2,7%. With net financial assets per capita of € 62,780, Italy remained in 17th place in the ranking of the 20 richest countries (see the table of financial assets per capita), just one step above Germany. Like other European countries such as France, Belgium or Great Britain, Italy has dropped drastically in the ranking since 2000. As a result, the top 10 looks different today than in 2000: Northern Europe and Asia are more represented today, but with the United States and Switzerland continuing to soar at the top of the rankings.
For the 2021 you can expect one development more dynamic, mainly thanks to a market equity lively. With about 3.5%, the financial assets of Italian families increased in the first half of 2021 already faster than last year.