THE CRISIS SERVED THEM WELL The world"s riches people, gravitating towards the US and Asia

The number of Asian millionaires has exceeded for the first time that of their European peers, increasing to 3 million, due to an increase in the assets of Chinese and Indians, according to a study published yesterday by the "Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management" and "Capgemini".

The increase in assets was more pronounced in Asia than it was in Europe, due to the Robust economic growth and the positive evolution of the currency markets, according to the study.

Hong Kong and India had the largest growth in the region of Asia-Pacific, after their numbers of millionaires dropped significantly in 2008, according to the quoted study.

"Emerging markets, particularly India and China, as well as Brazil, have stimulated the recovery and will continue to do so", said Bertrant Lavayssiere, managing director of Capgemini.

However, the largest concentration of multimillionaires remains in the United States, followed by Japan and Germany.

The rich people of the world have gotten richer in 2009, despite the crisis, as investment funds in some areas managed to return to their pre-crisis levels, and for the first time the number of millionaires in Asia became equal to that of European millionaires.

Sallie Krawcheck, the head of the wealth management division of Bank of America, made the following comment on the study by "Merrill Lynch" and "Capgemini" on world wealth: "Already clear signs of a recovery are visible, and in certain areas we are even seeing a complete return to the levels of fortune and growth of 2007".

Last year, the United States of America had the most millionaires in dollars, namely 2.87 million, followed by Japan - 1.65 million, Germany - 861,000 and China - 477,000, the study says. Switzerland had the highest concentration of millionaires, of 35 for each 1,000 adults.

Fortunes have increased the fastest in India, China and Brazil, reaching record levels in Latin America and the Asian-Pacific region.

The fortune of Asian millionaires has increased 31%, to 9,700 billion dollars, surpassing the aggregate fortune of Europeans (9,500 billion dollars).

At the same time, in North America, the number of millionaires increased 17%, and their fortune increased 18%, to 10,700 billion dollars.

In 2009, after the recession which affected the entire world, there were 10 million people which had assets of more than 1 million dollars.