SR.

NO

CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

INTRODUCTION

EVOLUTION OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT

HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS

WEALTH MANAGEMENTS UNITS IN INDIA

SERVICES UNDER WEALTH MANAGEMENT

BENEFITS OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT

PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

10

WEALTH MANAGEMENT IN ICICI BANK

11

FUTURE PROSPECTUS OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT

12

CONCLUSION AND BIBLOGRAPHY

INDEX

Objectives of study
1.To study the evolution and growth of wealth management market in India.

2.To study the various wealth management services provided by the Bank.

3.To know what are the primary needs of the High net worth individuals and services
provided to them.
4. To study the importance of wealth management.

INTRODUCTION
India is one of the fast growing economies in the world and hence it has a large
pool of the people whose net worth is high and are high net worth individuals.
The number of the people in these categories is increasing with a faster pace.
The growth of the country mainly depends upon these individuals every financial
institution try to get them as their clients so that by doing business with them
financial institutions can also get a strong base in the economy. The financial
institutions are providing various services to the HNIs to make their investment
decisions such kind of services now a days are called wealth management
services and the financial planning. Today investors have become very
sophisticated in their investment decisions. Such sophisticated investors (HNIs)
with a heightened interest in international investments are determined to get the
best return on their wealth.
Thus the wealth management and private banking industry must offer their
wealthy clients innovative and comprehensive strategies to effectively organize
their investments. The financial planning and the wealth management services
sound similar on the surface but in the deep they are a l bit dis similar . In a
broad view wealth management services is a part of the financial planning
services. But now a day wealth management services are restricted to the
sophisticated customers so that the term wealth is not used for each and every
customer of the financial institutions. Wealth does not mean that it is related
only with the money.wealth can be the business, house property ,gold ,bonds
,stocks ,jewels etc. and to maintain and take care of this and as well as to
increase the worth of all of these people who need assistance.
In general, wealth management is more than just investment advice, as it can
encompass all parts of a person's financial life. The idea is that rather than trying
to make sense of advice from a series of professionals, high net worth individuals
benefit from a holistic approach in which a single manager coordinates all the
services needed to manage their money and plan for their own and/or their
family's current and future needs.
Wealth management as an investment-advisory discipline incorporates financial
planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated
financial services. High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), small-business owners
and families who desire the assistance of a credentialed financial advisory
specialist call upon wealth managers to coordinate retail banking, estate
planning, legal resources, tax professionals and investment management. Wealth
managers can have backgrounds as independent Chartered Financial
Consultants, Certified Financial Planners or Chartered Financial Analysts (in the
United States), Chartered Strategic Wealth Professionals (in Canada),[1]
Chartered Financial Planners (in the UK), or any credentialed (such as MBA)
professional money managers who work to enhance the income, growth and taxfavored treatment of long-term investors.

Private wealth management is delivered to high-net-worth investors. Generally

this includes advice on the use of various estate planning vehicles, businesssuccession or stock-option planning, and the occasional use of hedging
derivatives for large blocks of stock.

Traditionally, the wealthiest retail clients of investment firms demanded a greater

level of service, product offering and sales personnel than that received by
average clients. With an increase in the number of affluent investors in recent
years, there has been an increasing demand for sophisticated financial solutions
and expertise throughout the world.

The CFA Institute curriculum on private-wealth management indicates that two

primary factors distinguish the issues facing individual investors from those
facing institutions:

Time horizons differ. Individuals face a finite life as compared to the

theoretically/potentially infinite life of institutions. This fact requires strategies for
transferring assets at the end of an individual's life. These transfers are subject
to laws and regulations that vary by locality and therefore the strategies
available to address this situation vary. This is commonly known as accumulation
and decumulation.
Individuals are more likely to face a variety of taxes on investment returns that
vary by locality. Portfolio investment techniques that provide individuals with
after tax returns that meet their objectives must address such taxes.
Beginning in 1999, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in
collaboration with the Institute for Private Investors, offered a five-day course
exclusively for wealthy families, family offices and individuals. Since then 857
individuals from 50 countries and 41 states have attended this class offered
twice annually.

The term "wealth management" occurs as at least as early as 1933.[5] It came

into more general use in the elite retail (or "Private Client") divisions of firms
such as Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley (before the Dean Witter Reynolds
merger of 1997), to distinguish those divisions' services from mass-market
offerings, but has since spread throughout the financial-services industry. Family
offices that had formerly served just one family opened their doors to other
families, and the term Multi-family office was coined. Accounting firms and
investment advisory boutiques created multi-family offices as well. Certain larger
firms (UBS, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch) have "tiered" their platforms with
separate branch systems and advisor-training programs, distinguishing "Private

Wealth Management" from "Wealth Management", with the latter term denoting
the same type of services but with a lower degree of customization and delivered
to mass affluent clients. At Morgan Stanley, the "Private Wealth Management"
retail division focuses on serving clients with greater than $20 million in
investment assets while "Global Wealth Management" focuses on accounts
smaller than $10 million. (<--What about clients with between $10MM and
$20MM in investment assets?)

In the late 1980s, private banks and brokerage firms began to offer seminars and
client events designed to showcase the expertise and capabilities of the
sponsoring firm. Within a few years a new business model emerged Family
Office Exchange in 1990, the Institute for Private Investors in 1991, and CCC
Alliance in 1995. These companies aimed to offer an online community as well as
a network of peers for ultra high-net-worth individuals and their families. These
entities have grown since the 1990s, with total IT spending (for example) by the
global wealth management industry predicted to reach $35bn by 2016, including
heavy investment in digital channels.

Wealth management can be provided by large corporate entities, independent

financial advisers or multi-licensed portfolio managers who design services to
focus on high-net-worth clients. Large banks and large brokerage houses create
segmentation marketing-strategies to sell both proprietary and non-proprietary
products and services to investors designated as potential high-net-worth clients.
Independent wealth-managers use their experience in estate planning, risk
management, and their affiliations with tax and legal specialists, to manage the
diverse holdings of high-net-worth clients. Banks and brokerage firms use
advisory talent-pools to aggregate these same services.

The Great Recession of the late 2000s caused investors to address concerns
within their portfolios. For this reason wealth managers have been advised that
clients have a greater need to understand, access, and communicate with
advisers about their situation.

Life goals
As the term wealth management has become more common, some companies
have shifted towards a model which asks clients about life goals, working
environments, and spending patterns as a way to increase communication. In
2014 Barron's reviewed "Wealth Management Unwrapped," a book addressed to
investors without endorsing any one firm or strategy. Increasingly the industry
recognized wealth management was more than an investment advisory
discipline. In 2015, United Capital rebranded their wealth management services

using the term "financial life management", which, according to the company,
was intended to more clearly define the difference between wealth management
companies and more affordable brokerage firms. The same year Merrill Lynch
began a program, Merrill Lynch Clear, which asks investors to describe life goals,
and includes an educational program for clients' children.

Private banking and wealth management rankings

According to Euromoney's annual Private banking and wealth management
ranking 2013, which consider (amongst other factors) assets under
management, net income and net new assets, global private banking assets
under management grew just 10.8%YoY (compared with 16.7% ten years ago)

World Wealth Report 2013

The 2013 World Wealth Report, released in June 2013, showed that despite the
turbulence of the global economy, particularly in the Eurozone, both the
population and wealth of global HNWIs reached significant new highs in 2012.
Even though the year got off to a shaky start, HNWIs ultimately benefitted from
strong market returns in spite of sluggish global GDP growth. The report was
widely welcomed as good news for the private wealth management sector.

The 2013 edition of the World Wealth Report also included the inaugural
Capgemini, RBC Wealth Management and Scorpio Partnership Global HNW
Insights Survey. The survey represents one of the largest and most in-depth
surveys of high-net-worth individuals ever conducted, surveying more than 4,400
HNWIs across 21 major wealth markets.

This survey-driven section of the report aimed to provide perspectives from the
world's wealthy. Key findings included:

In Q1, 2013, around 61% of HNWIs said they have trust and confidence in their
wealth managers and firms, an increase of roughly four and three percentage
points respectively, from 2012.
75.4% of HNWIs around the globe cited confidence in their ability to generate
wealth over the next year

52.6% of HNWIs gave their advisors and support staff a strong performance
rating for service

Evolution of wealth management

The term Wealth Management came into existence during the 1990s; but as a
concept, wealth management is continuing to evolve. Since the term was
coined, the number of millionaires in the world has grown exponentially, all the
more reason to evaluate whether the capabilities of Wealth Management firms
match the intended definition of the term.

In the book Wealth Management: The Financial Advisors Guide to Investing and
Managing Client Assets, Harold Evensky recognized wealth management as a
specialty of financial planning; but interestingly, the majority of the book (as the
title states) focuses on the investment of client assets. This is not an uncommon
view of wealth management and reflects the ongoing evolution of the term.

So what is wealth management? And why has the term become so pervasive in
the financial services industry?

Perhaps wealth management, simply stated, is financial planning for individuals

with taxable estates. In addition to the assumptive goal of sustaining and
growing their wealth over the long-term, the definition should also shed light on
the myriad of non-monetary issues that face a wealthy individual. With

Evenskys description that wealth management as a specialty within financial

planning, what then is financial planning? Personal financial planning can be
defined as the process, both artistic and scientific, of formulating,
implementing, and monitoring multifunctional decisions that enable an individual
or family to achieve financial goals (Personal Financial Planning Theory and
Practice, Michael A. Dalton and James F. Dalton), so wealth management speaks
to the specific and unique challenges associated with being wealthy.

Traditionally, wealthy clients have sought financial advice from a variety of

sources: bank trust departments, brokerage firms, insurance agents, as well as
their personal attorneys and accountants. As the term wealth management
entered the financial services vernacular, virtually all of the aforementioned
providers have adapted the word wealth into their business names and titles.
The bank trust department of old is now called Private Wealth Management
and hosts of financial advisors are now Wealth Managers. But has anything
truly changed in what we are providing our clients?

In the book Cultivating the Middle Class Millionaire: Why Financial Advisors Are
Failing Their Wealth Clients and What They Can Do About It, authors Russ Alan
Prince and David A. Geracioti state that Less than ten percent of financial
advisors are wealth managers. They go on to say that their name has changed
but their advisory practices remains the same.

Wealth Management has also entered the world of academia. Johns Hopkins
Universitys Carey School of Business now has an elective for graduate MBA
students titled Personal Wealth Management. According to the course
description, the class provides strategies for coordinating financial planning for
high-net worth individuals. Additionally, there are new professional
designations within the financial services industry that have been created to
address the needs of the wealthy client. For example, The College of Financial
Planning offers the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor designation. Armed
with formal coursework and additional credentials, newly minted wealth
managers and transitioning veterans of the financial advice industry are aiming
to better meet the needs of a ripening market.

There is little doubt that the business of wealth management is extremely

attractive, but have we adopted this terminology simply to gather more assets
from a desirable market segment? Many planners have successfully shifted the
focus of their practice entirely on wealthy individuals and enjoy the tremendous
benefit of serving fewer clients with more assets. In fact, there are dozens of
books and publications that tout the economic benefits of advisors transitioning
their businesses from traditional transactional practices to wealth

management practices. With mounting evidence in the financial services

industry, the reality is that the term wealth management is in danger of being
too focused on investment planning. While extremely important, investment
planning for a wealthy client is just one of many critical components of the
wealth management process.

The term Wealth Management sometimes implies that the client has a desire
or an unstated need for greater sophistication and complexity in their financial
services. This does not have to be the case. In fact, many wealthy clients have
fairly simple, straightforward situations; and the introduction of greater
complexity for complexities sake only generates unnecessary fees with their
asset manager and perhaps with outside professionals such as their accountant
and attorney.

Many wealth managers have evolved into their current roles over the course of
their careers, having started in the financial services industry as specialists in a
specific product such as investments or insurance. Without setting high
standards for wealth managers, the industry runs the risk of having the term
wealth management dismissed by the general public as merely a glitzy
marketing campaign if we are not clear in our definition and who we aim to
serve. To avoid this, a firm holding themselves out as wealth managers should
be certain that they have the resources and capabilities to do so. Some of the
key components of a wealth management offering should include:

A direct and in-depth understanding of a clients needs, both monetary and nonmonetary.
The client must to be the sole focus of the planning process with an emphasis on
creating appropriate solutions over products.
Flexibility and adaptability to the changing needs of a client avoiding a formulaic,
one-size-fits-all approach.
An on-going process with a client that identifies critical goals, creates solutions to
problems, and confirms clients satisfaction with the outcome.
A coordinated approach that is collaborative with multiple in-house experts as
well as outside professionals (i.e. attorneys, CPAs, insurance agents, realtors,
etc.)
Recognition that sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer.
Who should be a wealth management client? The answer may seem fairly self
evident. An individual must already have accumulated a significant amount of
wealth in order for the process to be relevant and useful. However, one issue

that will continue to challenge the industry will be determining who we serve.
Currently, most wealth management firms define a client in terms of liquidity
primarily and net worth secondarily. Since most firms have a minimum AUM
requirement, the clients current liquidity is paramount. The conundrum begins
when a wealth manager is approached by a high-net worth individual who is
largely illiquid. This individual can greatly benefit from the wealth management
process but may have a difficult time finding a financial services firm to provide
coordinated services prior to a liquidity event.

With the remarkable increase in wealth across the country, it is easy to see why
so many firms and advisors have taken steps to attract this compelling and ever
growing market. What is most critical is that the marketing message matches
the expertise and capabilities offered. Just hanging the tag wealth manager on
your card, does not instantly qualify you to address the complex and changing
needs of a wealthy client. Like any profession, there needs to be great
responsibility and care in recognizing ones strengths and limitations.

Wealth Management is a great term and an even better concept, but it is still a
very young discipline within the financial planning arena. Proponents of the
wealth management process need to be very clear with themselves and the
general public what they do and who they benefit or risk being defined
incorrectly by confused on-look

High net worth individuals (HNWI)

High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the
financial services industry to designate persons whose investible assets (such as
stocks and bonds) exceed a given amount. Typically, these individuals are
defined as holding financial assets (excluding their primary residence) with a
value greater than US$1 million.

However, there are distinct classifications of HNWI and the exact dividing lines
depend on how a bank wishes to segment its market. For example, an investor
with less than US$1 million but more than US$100,000 is considered to be

"affluent", or perhaps even "Sub-HNWI". "Very-HNWI" (VHNWI) can refer to

someone with a net worth of at least US$5 million.

By 2007, the expansion of HNWI assets led to the creation of a super class of
HNWIs, known as Ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), i.e. those with
US$30 million in liquid financial assets according to the Capgemini and Merrill
Lynch World Wealth Report 2006 or with a disposable income of more than
US$20 million.

HNWIs are in high demand by private wealth managers. The more money a
person has, the more work it takes to maintain and preserve those assets. These
individuals generally demand (and can justify) personalized services in
investment management, estate planning, tax planning, and so on.

World scenario of high net worth individuals

According to the Asia Pacific 2016 Wealth Report, by New World Wealth, India
was ranked among the top five Asia Pacific countries in terms of number of High
Networth Individuals (HNIs)..
At the end of 2015, there were, 12,60,000 millionaires in Japan, while China
ranked second with 654,000 HNIs and Australia was at the third place had
290,000.
Others in the top 10 in terms of number of HNIs in Asia Pacific include, Singapore
at the fifth place with 224,000 millionaires, Hong Kong (6th, 215,000), South
Korea (7th, 125,000), Taiwan (8th, 98,200), New Zealand (9th, 89,000) and
Indonesia (10th, 48,500).
Interestingly, India is among the top five Asia Pacific countries in terms of total
private wealth held, but at the bottom in terms of per capita income.
Indias total individual wealth stood at $4,365 billion, while China, which topped
the list, had a total individual wealth of $17,254 billion.
Total individual wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals in
each country, including all property, cash, equities and business interests.

On per capita basis, India was last among the bottom three, as the average
wealth per person stood at $3,500, while that of Australia, which topped the
ranking, stood at $204,400.
As reflected, Australians are the wealthiest individuals in Asia Pacific with
$204,000 in wealth per person, whilst people in Pakistan are the poorest with
$1,600 per person, the report added.
It also noted that there were around 3.5 million HNIs living in Asia Pacific, with
combined wealth holdings of $17.7 trillion.
Asia Pacific HNI numbers have increased by 115 per cent over the past 15 years,
compared to the worldwide HNI growth rate of 82 per cent and going forward,
HNI numbers in Asia Pacific are expected to rise by 50 per cent over next 10
years, reaching around 5.2 million by 2025.

HIGH NET WORTH SEGMENT IN INDIA IS PLACED:

India is home to the fourth largest population of millionaires in the Asia

Pacific region, with 2.36 lakh such high networth individuals, while Japan
topped the list with 12.60 lakh people.
Mumbai Delhi and Bangalore accounts for bulk of high net worth
individuals
Bangalore accounts for over 50000 high net worth individuals with
investible surplus between 1 cr to 4.5 cr.
10% of HNI are in age group of 30 years or younger.
Over the period (by 2025), India is expected to see a 105 per cent growth
in HNI population to 483,800 from 236,000,

What are all the services high net worth

individuals normally expects?
Advisory support on investment decision
Tax optimization
Wealth protection, insurance advisory
Research support on different investment opportunities
Other requirements like succession planning, legal advisory services, etc

Wealth management objectives and its

benefits
Wealth management is an investment advisory service for high net worth
individuals.

HOW IT WORKS (EXAMPLE):

Wealth management combines both financial planning and specialized financial

services, including personal retail banking services, estate planning, legal and
tax advice, and investment management services.

The goal of wealth management is to sustain and grow long-term wealth. The
net worth needed to qualify for wealth management services vary among
institutions, but the net worth threshold typically starts at about $20 million.
Also, depending on the institution, the range of services available is highly
customizable in order to meet the specific needs of the client.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Wealth management clients are highly sought after by financial institutions and
financial service companies. Many banks that combine traditional banking and
wealth management services have specialized sales and service teams to
specifically cater to wealth management clients.

Effective benefits

Comprehensive financial advice: Wealth management offers a

comprehensive analysis of your financial health. It will provide you details
of the current status of your money. When you know where you stand, it is
easier to get advice and make decisions for investments and financial
plans. You will be able to evaluate your needs and work on getting what
you want for yourself and for the business. Comprehensive financial
advice also provides a review of your insurance and retirement planning
needs.
Develop strategy for your business. Creating a road map based
on your financial status lets you set realistic goals and strategies for the
business. Comprehensive wealth management involves strategic planning
of your goals. It serves as the framework of your plans and objectives.
Long-term goals will dictate the steps you have to take to meet your
target. It helps the business grow and develop a strategy that matches
your business model.

Provides gap analysis: The assessment between your goals and current
financial status is necessary to help you identify and plan your actions carefully.
When you conduct gap analysis, it lets you evaluate your resources and allows
you to see the strength and weakness of your plan. It ensures that you are
prepared on the deals you have to face to reach your goal and fill-in the gaps to
meet growth expectations.

Understanding Wealth Management

You need to understand how wealth management will work for you. Every
business expert and consultant offering wealth management services will
provide you with detailed advice and a solution for your needs. The advice and
plan will depend on your money and the goals set in mind. Being realistic is a
very important consideration for setting objectives and managing your finances.
There are different types of advice for wealth consulting service. Choose the
option that will work for you. To evaluate your needs, talk to the experts at The
Money Edge.
When thinking about high net-worth individuals, there's a tendency to view them
as people without problems, living a life of luxury. Because they've been able to
amass a significant amount of wealth over time, they're set for life - or so the
thinking goes.

In fact, having a high degree of wealth is far from a care-free status. Owning
wealth means needing to take care of it, whether through implementing tax
planning, setting up an orderly estate or creating a successful investment plan.
This might explain the soaring popularity of wealth management.

According to a recent Deloitte report, on the back of this increased demand,

wealth management is set to be one of five future "growth waves" for the
Australian economy. Along with gas, agribusiness, tourism and international
education, wealth management could become an industry as large as mining.

Wealth management is your key to retirement

Perhaps the biggest reason for the importance of wealth management is the
issue of retirement. The cost of living has been, and still is, steadily rising in
Australia.

At the same time, similar to other western nations, Australia's pension system is
also due to come in for increased strain as the number of elderly in the country
rise. Headlines in recent years have fixated on concerns about the adequacy of
the age pension, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting in June that
pensioners are increasingly leaving for cheaper pastures.

Under these circumstances, it's increasingly important to formulate

superannuation and retirement strategies - as well as ensure your wealth is
protected - in order to have as secure a retirement as possible.

It's also about your priorities

Wealth management isn't simply about making financial plans for your future,
however. At its most basic, wealth management is a matter of realising your
priorities.

If you grew a significant amount of wealth in the first place, it was likely for a
particular reason, whether to have financial security and stability, to start some
kind of enterprise or provide for your children. Wealth management - through the
right investment advice, assistance with taxes or even counsel on what to do
with debts - is what allows your vision to become reality.

Objectivesr we come across the word Wealth Management it appears to an

investor as something coming down from the Planet Mars. But if we analyze the
basics without getting to much within the complicated jargon we find 2 things
primarily,1)Proper Asset allocation and 2) Risk control. Apart from them one can
find many more things within wealth management. But in all definitions we find
the above 2 basic meanings behind the objective of wealth management.

The things offered within the meaning of Wealth management are

Investment planning: assists you in investing your money into various

investment markets, keeping in mind your investment goals.

Insurance planning: assists you in selecting from various types of insurances, self
insurance options and captive insurance companies.
Retirement planning: is critical to understand how much funds you require in
your old age.
Asset protection: begins with your financial advisor trying to understand your
preferred lifestyle and then helping you deal with threats, such as taxes,
volatility, inflation, creditors and lawsuits, to maintaining this lifestyle.
Tax planning: helps in minimizing tax returns. This might include planning for
charity, supporting your favorite causes while also receiving tax benefits.
Estate planning: helps in protecting you and your estate from creditors, lawsuits
and taxes. This service is critical for every person whose net worth is high.
Business planning: This service aims at optimizing the tax free advantages of
running your own business.
Business succession planning: assists in planning for the inevitable to maximize
returns.
Wealth transfer: helps you pass on your wealth to your dependents.

But so many advantages will make the process of understanding Wealth

Management will make it very complicated rather than simplifying the process of
Wealth Management.

So we will break up and come up in simpler forms the different Prime wealth
management process.

Mark one thing and make it a note. Wealth Management does not solely focus on
Wealth Maximizing or making your hard earned money double.

Bill gates wealth management

Michael Larson is an American money manager. He is the chief investment officer

for The Gates Foundation and Bill Gates' fortune, through the Cascade
Investment fund. He assumed the role in 1994.

Bill Gates has amassed a net worth upwards of $80 billion to date. Gates earned
the majority of his vast fortune as one of the founders of Microsoft Corporation,
and where he served as CEO, chairman, and chief software architect. Gates was
the largest individual shareholder of Microsoft (MSFT) until May, 2014.

Here is where this billionaire stashes some of his money.

Investments in Corporations

Due to strategic sales of Microsoft shares, which Gates can credit for the bulk of
his current wealth, Gates' holdings in MSFT make up just around twenty percent
of his holdings. The majority of Gates' financial assets are investments in
corporations managed by Cascade Investments, LLC, an entity now partially run
by Gates to purchase stakes in various businesses. Although Cascade is highly
secretive, some information can be gleaned from its financial disclosures. (For
more, see: Management Advice From Megalomaniacs, Villains and Innovators.)

The portfolio held for Gates by Cascade is certainly well-diversified with

investments ranging from over $2 billion of Republic Services (RSG), a waste
management company, to over $680 million in the national car dealership
franchise AutoNation (AN). Nearly another $2 billion is stashed away in Ecolab
(ECL), which produces cleaning supplies. In addition, it is reported that Cascade
owns nearly a 50% stake in Four Seasons Hotels, over 10% of Canadian National
Railway (CNI), around 7% of Arcos Dorados (ARCO), the largest McDonald's
franchisee in the world, and a large chunk of the tractor maker John Deere (DE)
among others.(For a more complete list, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Investment)

Gates recently founded BGc3 (Bill Gates Catalyst 3), a think tank and venture
capital firm dedicated to scientific and technological services, industrial research
and using computing to combat poverty. He is also directly involved in Corbis, a
digital image licensing and rights company, TerraPower, a nuclear reactor
company, and Research Gate, a social networking sight for researchers and
scientists.

Real Estate

His investment portfolio is certainly significant and well-diversified, but Bill Gates
also puts his money to use buying real assets including a sprawling estate and a
private island.

Bill Gates's home, Xanadu 2.0, is an ocean-side lodge boasting over 66,000
square feet with approximately 500 feet of private waterfront on Lake
Washington. The estate features top of the line technology and gadgets befitting
its six kitchens, twenty four bathrooms and six fireplaces. Nearly every amenity
is computer controlled including automatic lights and music that follow you from
room to room. In 2009, property taxes were reported to be US $1.063 million on
a total assessed value of US$147.5 million indicating that the market value
today could be much larger than that amount.

In 2013 Bill Gates purchased a mansion in Wellington, Florida for $ 8.7 million.
The house has extensive equestrian facilities, such as a show jumping area and a
twenty stall horse barn. The Gates family uses the house when their daughter
Jennifer is training for her successful show jumping career.

Gates is also rumored to own Grand Bogue Caye, a 314 acre island off the coast
of Belize in Central America the largest island in that country. Grand Bogue
Caye is home to pristine beaches, abundant marine life and excellent diving. It is
reported that Gates purchased the island for upwards of $25 million. (For more,
see: Exploring Real Estate Investments.)

Planes & Automobiles

Bill Gates owns his own private jet a Bombardier BD 700 Global Express. This
ultra-long range corporate jet can reach Mach 0.88 and likely cost around $45
million. Through his membership in Netjets, Gates also owns a share of a Boeing

Business Jet or BBJ. Gates uses his private jets routinely, chiefly for his work for
his namesake charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He also likes a fancy set of wheels, and owns a number of Porsche automobiles.
He is reported to have a 1999 Porsche 911 Carerra convertible, a 930 Turbo
which he bought with his early Microsoft money, and a rare 1988 959 Coupe of
which only 337 were ever made. He likes to drive himself around town in a
normal Mercedes and he also owns a minivan to cruise around with the family.

Collectibles

While it's certainly an achievement to own one-of-a-kind real estate and rare
cars, it is another to own precious, irreplaceable collectibles and Bill Gates
certainly has accumulated quite the collection.

In 1994, he purchased a celebrated Leonardo da Vinci manuscript at auction for

$30.8 million. Known as the Codex Leicester, this work documents many of da
Vinci's scientific discoveries and observations. Gates once remarked on his
purchase, Yeah, I feel very lucky that I own a notebook. In fact, I remember
going home one night and telling my wife Melinda that I was going to buy a
notebook; she didn't think that was a very big deal. I said, no, this is a pretty
special notebook; this is the Codex Leicester, one of the Notebooks of Leonardo
da Vinci.

In 1998 Gates acquired the painting Lost on The Grand Banks by prominent
American painter Winslow Homer for a record $36 million. He followed that up in
1999, purchasing George Bellow's Polo Crowd at auction for $28 million. Among
his vast art collection, he has also picked up Frederick Childe Hassam's work
Room of Flowers for $20 million, William Merritt Chases' The Nursery for $10
million and Andrew Wythe's Distant Thunder for $7 million. (For more, see:
Should You Insure Your Collectibles?)

Philanthropy

For one of the wealthiest men in the world, giving away assets to worthy causes
is atop Bill Gates' list of achievements. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is
currently the largest charitable foundation in the world. The foundation's 2012

annual report reported assets of nearly $32 billion over $2 billion of which was
donated by Bill Gates himself.

He has also encouraged fellow billionaires to donate large sums to charitable

causes through The Giving Pledge.

The Bottom Line

For Bill Gates, savvy investing in a diversified portfolio of financial assets, real
estate and collectibles helps to ensure that his wealth will continue to grow. But
beyond that, his philanthropic mission to donate much of his wealth to worthy
causes to help better the world may be his biggest investment and certainly a
lasting legacy.