Record Wealth on Paper. Inflation Is Already Spending It.

Global household financial assets reached a record EUR268.4 trillion in 2025, expanding +8.6% from the prior year, according to the Allianz Global Wealth Report 2026 ¹, published September 29 by Allianz Research. The headline is impressive. The fine print is more complicated.

After adjusting for inflation, the picture shifts materially. The Allianz economics team observes that "nominal financial assets have increased by almost 50% since 2019, but real growth amounts to just 23%, leaving purchasing power only 5% above its 2021 level." Much of the record, in other words, is a price-level phenomenon rather than genuine wealth creation. Investors who believe the past four years have been transformative for household balance sheets should examine what the inflation adjustment quietly takes back.

Markets Did the Work. Savers Slowed Down.

Four out of every five euros of new financial wealth in 2025 came from valuation gains rather than fresh savings, with new savings declining -5.4% to EUR4.1 trillion. The engine of wealth accumulation has shifted decisively from household discipline to market performance — a dynamic that concentrates benefit among those already invested and leaves late-starters further behind.

Securities were the standout asset class for the third consecutive year, rising +12.4% versus +5.7% for bank deposits and +5.0% for insurance and pension assets. The team is direct about the implication: "capital-market participation is increasingly decisive for long-term wealth accumulation." Portfolio structure is no longer merely a reflection of savings preferences. It is, as the report frames it, "an increasingly important determinant of wealth creation."

North America's securities-heavy allocation — 60.7% of household portfolios — drove the region to generate 51.4% of the global increase in financial assets. Western Europe, by contrast, has barely moved in real terms since 2019, registering just +0.5% real growth. The Allianz team identifies the divergence precisely: valuation gains accounted for 71% of North American financial asset growth over the past decade, against 36% in Western Europe. Europe's households save at higher rates relative to existing assets, yet systematically underperform. The team concludes that "saving more does not necessarily mean accumulating more wealth."

The AI Variable: Upside, Risk, and the Labor Question

Artificial intelligence pervades the report's outlook in two distinct registers: as a driver of asset prices and as a structural disruptor of labor markets. The team estimates that AI "could affect almost 1 in 4 jobs across major economies over the next three years, mainly through reorganization." Displacement, the report cautions, could temporarily outpace job creation as firms deploy technology faster than workers retrain.

The distributional concern runs deeper. Corporate profits as a share of U.S. national income have reached their highest level since the aftermath of World War II. The team is measured but pointed: "If productivity gains flow mainly into profits rather than wages, asset owners could capture disproportionate benefits." In the U.S., the top 10% of households own approximately 87% of corporate equities and mutual fund shares. Strong aggregate wealth growth is entirely consistent with stagnant household prosperity for the majority.

The downside scenario is quantified. A 25% correction in the S&P 500 — triggered by earnings disappointment rather than fundamental AI failure — "could wipe around USD27trn from US household wealth, equivalent to almost 14% of total net worth," pushing the economy into recession through the wealth effect on consumption. The team notes that the scenario requires no existential challenge to the AI thesis — only that "expectations have run ahead of economic reality."

Inequality: Two Decades of Immobility

The richest 10% globally still hold 85.4% of net financial assets, down from 91.5% in 2005. At the current pace, the team calculates it would take "almost another eight decades for global concentration to approach the levels observed within individual countries." Within national borders, concentration has barely shifted — the average top-decile share across 57 countries moved from 60.4% in 2005 to just 60.9% in 2025. The distribution of new wealth is following the contours of old wealth with remarkable fidelity.

Five Key Takeaways for Advisors and Investors

1. Portfolio structure is the primary wealth differentiator. The gap between North American and European households is not a savings discipline problem — it is a capital markets participation problem. Advisors should ensure clients understand that allocation to securities is the mechanism through which market returns translate into household wealth.
2. Inflation-adjusted returns demand explicit attention. A 50% nominal gain that delivers 23% real growth is a planning input, not a planning success. Return expectations must be framed net of inflation, particularly as the Allianz team notes renewed energy-price and services-inflation pressures in 2026.
3. AI is a concentration amplifier, not a distribution engine. Unless policy broadens access to capital ownership, AI-driven productivity gains are likely to flow predominantly to asset owners. Advisors should consider this a structural argument for equity participation across client wealth tiers.
4. A market correction scenario is specific and plausible. The USD27 trillion downside is not a tail-risk abstraction — it follows from identifiable AI earnings expectations. Risk management frameworks should explicitly model equity concentration exposure, particularly in hyperscaler technology positions.
5. The global wealth convergence trade has lost momentum. The ratio of per-capita net financial assets in advanced versus emerging economies fell from 62-to-1 in 2005 to 17-to-1 in 2025 — but the last three years have added only a fraction of that improvement. Trade fragmentation and reorganized supply chains are structural headwinds to catch-up. Global allocation decisions should reflect a more fragmented world, not the globalization assumptions of the prior decade.

Footnote:

1 Grimm, Michaela, et al. Allianz Global Wealth Report 2026: A Double-Edged Code — How AI Is Reshaping the Global Wealth Landscape. Allianz Research, 29 Sept. 2026, https://www.allianz.com/content/dam/onemarketing/azcom/Allianz_com/economic-research/publications/allianz-global-wealth-report/2026/allianz-global-wealth-report-2026.pdf.