A report from one of the largest US insurance groups delves into what HNW citizens fret about, what they are insuring and how confident they are about the economy and own situation.

The US insurance giant Chubb says its new survey of HNW North Americans shows that most of them expect the economy to grow in the next 12 months and they are more confident about building fresh wealth. But it shows that most of them fear investment loss as the largest risk to their wealth and fret about inflation. 

The firm’s 2025 Wealth Report – The Resilient Mindset: Turning Risk Awareness Into Advantage – also shows that extreme weather events, as witnessed by devasting fires in southern California in early 2025 and floods in North Carolina, and cybercrime, are threats to life and property. Chubb interviewed 850 wealthy US persons and 150 of their peers in Canada.

“Affluent North Americans are remarkably confident about the economy and the opportunities that lie ahead, although roughly one third of our survey respondents express worry about their business or job,” the 21-page report said. 

Chief worries are loss of investment value, economic competitiveness and inflation. Cybersecurity has overtaken healthcare and pandemics as the top global concern. Climate volatility and extreme weather are still persistent worries, especially for those with property and collections in vulnerable geographic locations. 

“Our findings this year clearly show that physical assets are no longer the only concern for the wealthy; some of today’s most significant risks reside in the intangibles, such as sophisticated artificial intelligence attacks, including deep fakes, and other cyber exposure and outsized personal liability verdicts,” Melissa Scheffler, division president, Personal Risk Services, Chubb North America, said. 

Insurance is an important – if sometimes under-appreciated – part of the wealth management conversation. Arguably, much of what wealth management is consists of risk management and helping clients grasp the risks they are and are not willing to bear. Insurance can be used to cover potential losses and specialist areas, such as private placement life insurance can act as wealth structuring tools. Family Wealth Report has written this year about how disasters – such as fires – have focused minds of art collectors about such risks. Chubb, like its peers, for example Marsh McLennan, Prudential Inc, Berkshire Hathaway and UnitedHealth Group, has an understandable commercial desire to highlight citizens' preparedness – or lack – for natural and human-made risks. 

Cyber fright
In the details, 45 per cent said cybersecurity is the issue “most likely to keep them up at night”; 73 per cent of collectors believe that loss or damage from natural disasters represents the greatest threat to their collections” – a result higher than figures for 2024 and the preceding year, Chubb said. 

The study also showed that 44 per cent of collectors are adding to their collections; 93 per cent expect to increase spending on domestic travel; and 81 per cent on international travel – up substantially from a year earlier. Some 59 per cent expect to invest in real estate, although that is down sharply from 2024’s survey. 

Risk preparedness
The survey also showed that 81 per cent of respondents don’t carry excess liability insurance; 77 per cent of those planning to buy valuables don’t intend to insure them; astonishingly, almost half (49 per cent) don’t have a will; and 74 per cent don’t have an estate plan. (Editor’s note: It should be added that a slice of the respondents are Gen Z and Millennials.)

When it comes to luxury items where there is a degree of risk, such as yachts, 94 per cent of their owners worry about the qualifications or experience of those who operate them; 46 per cent are concerned about potential liability.

Unpacking the details of those surveyed, Chubb said 20 per cent had $1.5 to $5 million of investible assets; 20 per cent had more than $5 million and up to $10 million; 20 per cent had over $10 million and up to $25 million; 20 per cent had more than $25 million and up to $50 million; and 20 per cent of those polled had more than $50 million. The survey covered those under 29 years’ old (Gen Z); 14 per cent Millennials (29 to 44); 29 per cent GenX (45 to 60); 23 per cent Boomers (61 to 70), 19.5 per cent Boomers 1 (71 to 79) and 9.5 per cent Post-War (80 plus).