5 Key Findings From WealthX's Billionaire Census

WealthX recently released the results of its annual global billionaire census. As of 2015, there were 2,473 global billionaires representing a staggering $7.6 trillion in total wealth. Here’s a look at the five key takeaways from the report.

1. Liquidity up

Billionaires padded their cash levels in 2015. WealthX reports that liquidity among billionaires has been trending up since 2012, and it currently sits at its highest level (22.2 percent) since the firm began tracking it.

2. Gender gap widens

There are now 8.4 male billionaires in the world than female billionaires. Of the 148 new global billionaires in 2015, 140 were male.

3. More females earning their share

The percentage of female billionaires that inherited their wealth fell from 65.4 percent in 2014 to 56.0 percent in 2015. Female billionaires are still much more likely to have inherited their wealth than male billionaires, but the percentage is trending down.

Related Link: 10 Richest Self-Made Women In America

4. Financial sector representation declining

The percentage of billionaires from the finance, banking and investment industries fell from 19.3 percent to 15.2 percent in 2015. The sector still has the largest billionaire representation, but industrial conglomerates upped its representation from 12.1 percent to 12.8 percent in 2015.

Surprisingly, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF and The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI were two of the worst-performing sector ETFs in 2015.

5. Asia producing most new billionaires

Asia, led by China, generated 57 percent of 2015’s new billionaires, while Europe and North America accounted for 4.0 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. Last year was a tough year for China’s stock market, and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) FXI finished 2015 down 15.3 percent.