Singapore has been named the third-best country in the world when it comes to making a career and building family wealth. Switzerland takes the first spot and the United States of America is second on a new index published by the citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners.
The index ranks 27 countries on the basis of a percentage score representing opportunities. These opportunities are based on the quality of education available in that country; the career prospects; the income potential; and liveability.
Besides Singapore at No. 3, two other Asian countries/territories that are in the Top 10 of the Henley index are Hong Kong (No. 8) and the United Arab Emirates (No. 10).
In effect, the index indicates which are the best countries to relocate to for the purpose of finding opportunities and for building the kind of wealth that might last for more than a generation.
According to a report on the index by the business news agency Bloomberg, the central European nation of Switzerland — also a global financial hub — has the best opportunities for families looking to relocate, and then find the best career and income avenues, both for themselves and their offspring.
Henley has put it at the top because Switzerland has only a 2 per cent unemployment rate and seven of the top 250 universities in the world.
The United States, which is the world’s biggest economy, has a multitude of opportunities and 46 of the world’s top universities.
Singapore, one of the most developed countries in Asia, is situated at the centre of a global region with promising economic growth. It also offers particularly good opportunities in banking and technology, as per the research.
As for how families would benefit from moving to the highest ranked nations, the Henley research gives some examples:
- An average Indonesian family, whose score for the indicator ‘success for the next generation’ is 25 per cent in their own country, could see it rise to 82 per cent if they become US residents.
- An average Indian family, with a score of 32 per cent in ‘success for the next generation’, could increase this to 85 per cent if they move to Switzerland.
“Income variation globally is largely attributable to which country people live and work in,” says Henley & Partners Education Director Tess Wilkinson. “Picking the right country is key to ensuring multi-generational wealth.”