IM Yearbook 2020/21
Born from the need for a global, credible, “go-to” publication, the 3rd IM Yearbook offers valuable access to a prime target audience of top industry influencers, decision makers, and the foremost referral network to the world’s most influential Investment Migration programmes: Government officials such as Heads of CIU’s, policy makers, academics, migration agents, law firms, wealth managers, financial advisors, real estate developers, and international firms involved in investment migration.
Born from the need for a global, credible, “go-to” publication, the 3rd IM Yearbook offers valuable access to a prime target audience of top industry influencers, decision makers, and the foremost referral network to the world’s most influential Investment Migration programmes: Government officials such as Heads of CIU’s, policy makers, academics, migration agents, law firms, wealth managers, financial advisors, real estate developers, and international firms involved in investment migration.
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Beijing, China<br />
“Wealth creation is<br />
growing at a far faster rate<br />
than the slow-moving<br />
diplomatic engagement that<br />
creates visa-free travel, and we<br />
predict this growth to continue<br />
further in the wake of Covid-19”<br />
Juerg Steffen - CEO, Henley & Partners<br />
LANDSCAPE<br />
situations in 2019 that contributed to dramatic spikes in<br />
interest and enquiries for alternate residence or citizenship<br />
such as the political unrest in Hong Kong, Brazil’s economic<br />
and political crises, Britain’s impending exit from the EU, US-<br />
China trade tensions, Australia’s bush fires, and mounting<br />
concerns over democracy and good governance in the US.<br />
Shifting Criteria<br />
Although political and environmental<br />
risk generally generate interest in the<br />
firm’s services, Dominic Volek, Henley &<br />
Partners’ Group Head of Private Clients,<br />
highlights that the events of <strong>2020</strong> have seen<br />
clients’ objectives and motives shifting.<br />
“While in the past, wealthy clients<br />
Dominic Volek<br />
sought to establish an alternative<br />
citizenship or residence in countries that provided best<br />
access, resources and opportunities, now some of them<br />
are considering a country’s coronavirus response and<br />
pandemic preparedness in general among other criteria.”<br />
This means it’s not business as usual for the investment<br />
migration industry. “We are witnessing the emergence of a<br />
new global hierarchy in terms of mobility, with countries<br />
that have effectively managed the pandemic taking the lead,<br />
and countries that have handled it poorly falling behind,”<br />
says Steffen. The firm is recording a surge in interest from<br />
citizens of advanced economies, including a 324% increase<br />
in enquiries from US citizens between January and October<br />
<strong>2020</strong> compared to the same period in 2019. Pre-Covid-19, the<br />
US passport usually ranked within the top 10 of the Henley<br />
Passport Index, with its citizens able to access 185 destinations<br />
around the world visa-free. “However, during the height of the<br />
pandemic, the number of countries Americans could access<br />
without a prior visa dropped dramatically by over 100, with<br />
US passport holders able to access fewer than 75 destinations,<br />
with the most popular tourist and business centres notably<br />
excluded,” says Volek. For Steffen, the marked increase in US<br />
investors looking to diversify out of purely American portfolios<br />
and considering international options is an exciting new<br />
development. Plus, this trend is reinforced by the significantly<br />
greater interest shown by Canadians and UK citizens.<br />
Despite the remarkable interest experienced from Western<br />
economies, Henley & Partners’ focus remains firmly on<br />
countries that are seeing rapid rates of wealth growth such as<br />
Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the UAE, and Vietnam.<br />
“Wealth creation is growing at a far faster rate than the slowmoving<br />
diplomatic engagement that creates visa-free travel,<br />
and we predict this growth to continue further in the wake of<br />
Covid-19,” says Steffen. To service new, emerging markets, Henley<br />
& Partners opened new offices in India and Nigeria in <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
Interest from India<br />
Henley & Partners has long been operating<br />
in India via its regional head office in<br />
Singapore and has seen constant growth<br />
in the market for the past few years. The<br />
decision to open offices on the ground, in<br />
Delhi and Mumbai, resulted in a strong<br />
increase in enquiries this year. “From January<br />
Nirbhay Handa<br />
to October <strong>2020</strong>, there was an 81% increase<br />
in India enquiries compared to the same period last year.<br />
Admittedly, Covid-19 has slowed down the actual execution and<br />
processing of applications, but interest and enquiries are at an<br />
all-time high,” says Nirbhay Handa, Head of the India Office.<br />
Due to the slower development of Indian geopolitical,<br />
diplomatic and trade relationships, Handa explains,<br />
many Indians might be extremely wealthy, yet they face<br />
restrictive global immigration policies. Indians are able<br />
to visit only 58 destinations without obtaining a visa prior<br />
to arrival. RBI options are most attractive to Indians as<br />
India does not allow dual citizenship, unless they opt<br />
for the Overseas Citizen of India option, an immigration<br />
status permitting a foreign citizen of Indian origin to<br />
live and work in the Republic of India indefinitely.<br />
Investment Migration <strong>Yearbook</strong> 2O2O/2O<strong>21</strong> 93
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