Markets drive record wealth as AI raises the stakes

The 17th edition of the Allianz “ Global Wealth Report,” which puts the asset and debt situation of households in almost 60 countries under the microscope, shows that global household wealth hit a new record in 2025, while market gains and the rise of AI are making asset ownership increasingly important in determining who benefits from future wealth creation.

Global financial assets increased by 8.6% in 2025 to a record EUR268.4trn, despite a challenging geopolitical and economic backdrop. Markets did the heavy lifting in 2025, as rising asset prices accounted for roughly 4 out of every 5 euros of new household wealth. Fresh savings fell 5.4% to EUR4.1trn. “Global wealth set another record in 2025, but that only tells half of the story,” said Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Allianz. “Since 2019, nominal financial assets are up 50%, but in real terms, stripped of inflation, they only grew 23%. The situation is worse in Western Europe where financial assets in real terms are up 0.5% compared to 2019. It is 21% in North America and 70% in China.”

Portfolio composition increasingly determines who captures the gains from wealth creation. Securities increased by 12.4% in 2025, more than twice as fast as deposits (5.7%) or insurance and pensions (5.0%), pushing their share of global financial assets to a record 46.9%. North American households, with 60.7% of their portfolios invested in securities, benefited particularly strongly from rising markets; their region generated 51.4% of the global increase in financial assets. Over the past decade, valuation gains accounted for 71% of North American financial-asset growth, compared with only 36% in Western Europe, reflecting the importance of investing savings over holding them in low-earning accounts.

We estimate that global financial assets could grow by a solid 9% in 2026, but the medium-term backdrop is turning tougher as slower growth, persistent inflation, fragmentation and high public debt weigh on returns. Going forward, AI is therefore the key swing factor: stronger productivity and earnings could sustain asset returns, but the growing reliance on AI-powered markets to drive household wealth also creates vulnerability. With the S&P 500 up around 95% since end-2022, much of the recent wealth boost rests on elevated market valuations and AI expectations. We find that a 25% correction in the S&P 500 would erase around USD27trn of US household wealth in the year of the shock, equivalent to almost 14% of total net worth, weighing on confidence and consumption, and pushing the US economy into recession.

But the AI wealth story is not only about how much wealth is created, it is also about who captures the gains. “AI could become the next great wealth engine, but the key question is who gets a stake in it,” said Katharina Utermöhl, Head of Thematic & Policy Research at Allianz Research. “As AI potentially shifts more value creation towards capital, broader participation in capital returns and policies that help workers adjust will be key to making the AI wealth dividend more widely shared.”

The gross financial assets of German households rose by 4.9% to EUR 9.9 trillion in 2025. This marked a slowdown in growth compared with the 7.4% recorded in 2024. Germany was above the Western European average of 4.5%, but lagged behind global growth of 8.6%.

Securities posted the strongest growth at 8.6%. Bank deposits grew by 3.8%, and insurance and pension assets by 1.4%. Their share of the portfolio rose from 35.8% to a record high of 37.1%. This marked the first time since the data series began that securities surpassed bank deposits, whose share stood at 36.4%. The share of securities was now slightly above the Western European average of 36.8%, but still significantly below the global figure of 46.9%.

New investments rose by 2.4% to EUR 319.3 billion – the third-highest figure ever recorded, following the exceptional years of 2020 and 2021. Bank deposits accounted for 45.2% of new investments, securities for 38.0%, and insurance/pension funds for 20.4%. Investment funds dominated securities purchases: At EUR 97.8 billion, funds accounted for a good four-fifths of securities investments – the second-highest figure since the data series began. This was supplemented by equity purchases of EUR 16.2 billion and purchases of other securities totaling EUR 7.3 billion.

New investments accounted for 69% of the total increase in financial assets; only 31% was attributable to valuation gains. Globally, the ratio was nearly the opposite: there, new investments contributed only 20% to the growth. Germany’s financial asset growth thus remained predominantly savings-driven—unlike globally, where valuation gains dominated.

Adjusted for inflation, financial assets grew by 2.5% in 2025, down from 4.8% the previous year. Since 2019, the purchasing power of financial assets has increased by a total of 6.5%. However, it remained 3.4% below its 2021 peak: the impact of the inflation shock has not yet been fully overcome.

Household liabilities rose by 1.9% to EUR 2.2 trillion, growing significantly more slowly than gross financial assets. As a result, net financial assets increased by 5.8% to EUR 7.7 trillion. The ratio of liabilities to gross financial assets fell from 22.8% to 22.1%.

With net financial assets of EUR 91,780 per capita, Germany remained in 12th place in the global wealth ranking in 2025. Although Germany improved by five places compared to 2005, this leap is primarily attributable to the Deutsche Bundesbank, which significantly revised historical data and valued unlisted equity holdings considerably higher.

In 2026, the increase in gross financial assets in Germany is expected to be somewhat below average at around 4%, which is likely due primarily to a more moderate performance of the domestic stock market compared to international markets and continued subdued demand for insurance and pension products.

The interactive “Allianz Global Wealth Map” can be found here.

You can find the study here.