BUSINESS NEWS

Almost half of Australia's millionaires made their money by owning or selling their businesses

The ranks of Australia's high-net-worth-individual swelled by 10.3 per cent to 160,500 during 2007. Between them they amassed a fortune of A$570 billion.

A high-net-worth-individual (HNWI) is someone who has investable assets of at least US$1million. That figure excludes the family home, cars and collectables.

Australia has 1,120 ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs) - defined as those with investable assets of more than US$30 million.

According to the Merrill Lynch/Capgemini World Wealth Report 2007, which probes the habits of wealthy investors, a significant number of HNWIs and UHNWIs got that way by building a business from scratch, or exploiting other opprtunities.

Almost half of Australia's HNWIs made their money by owning businesses or by selling them.

As a group, HNWIs and UHNWIs demonstrate a strong propensity to grasp an opportunity when they see one. They got to a position of wealth by planning carefully, sticking to the plan, taking advice and being prepared to approach new opportunities with an open mind.