LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - As an example, WealthInsight shows that Beijing and Shanghai each have more multi-millionaires currently than Los Angeles. The study terms those who are worth $30 million or more as "ultra-high-net-worth individuals."

Beijing has 1,318 people termed "ultra-high-net-worth individuals." Shanghai has 2,028, and both cities are higher than Los Angeles, which has 950 people worth $30 million or more.

New York still towers over the others when it comes to the ultra-highs, with 2,929 people worth $30 million or more.

South American cities such as Sao Paulo and Brazil have 1,310 ultra-highs. That's more than San Francisco, Washington and Miami combined. Moscow is now on par with Chicago when it comes to ultra-highs. Middle Eastern ultra-rich kingdom Mumbai has more than Dallas.

Analysts say that the number of ultra-highs in secondary BRIC cities like Puna, Fuzhou and Chongqing could nearly double over the next four years.

Will this rapid global shift in wealth from West to East and from developed to emerging markets, will continue on its current pace?

WealthInsight predicts that number of millionaires in the BRIC countries will grow by 76 percent by 2016, more than double the growth rate of the past four years.

It says India's millionaire population will more than double, to 511,000, while China's will grow by 82 percent and Brazil's will grow by 40 percent.

However --an economic slowdown in the BRICS and lower stock markets could temper that growth - especially in China.

This is a troubling sing. If fears over a Chinese hard landing were to fully materialize, the number of millionaires would be severely affected: asset prices would fall and wealth would be destroyed."

For the time being, it's good to be a millionaire -- or future millionaire in Fuzhou.

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