Asia’s wealthy were hit harder by the global financial crisis than rich Americans and Europeans, and are still nursing losses in spite of the recovery in the equity markets, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini said on Tuesday.

In their annual Asia-Pacific Wealth Report, closely watched for its insight into the region’s rich, the two institutions said the number of people in Asia with $1m to invest, not including their principal residence, fell 14.2 per cent to 2.4m last year.