Immigration series | London tops Best Residence-by-Investment Cities for Business Index

London has emerged as the overall winner in a new Best Residence-by-Investment Cities for Business Index, followed by New York, Sydney, Singapore, and Zurich in the Top 5 list. This index showcases 25 capitals and other major cities of the countries that host the world’s most popular residence-by-investment programs.

The 25 cities included in the Index (according to overall rank) are: London, New York, Sydney, Singapore, Zurich, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Vienna, Toronto, Dubai, St Helier (Belgium), Auckland, Lisbon, Dublin, Rome, Riga (Latvia), Monaco, Limassol (Cyprus), Athens, Valletta (Malta), Sofia (Bulgaria), Bangkok, Port Louis (Mauritius), and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Also read: Top 10 best residence-by-investment cities for Business Index

Launched by Henley & Partners in collaboration with Deep Knowledge Analytics, the index has categorised cities under various parameters: Vienna and Lisbon were tied for the top spot in residence by investment; Singapore leads the pack in Covid safety and infrastructure; Dubai in tax; London in real estate and lifestyle; New York in education; Zurich in healthcare; Sydney in security; and Zurich in stability.

“The Best Residence-by-Investment Cities for Business Index uses over 40 different parameters and over 1,000 different data points to score and compare these world-class cities. The five cities that take the top spots in the index—London, New York, Sydney, Singapore, and Zurich—illustrate perfectly the wide geographical range of available residence-by-investment program options, emphasising that no matter what your business requirements may be, there is an option that will suit your needs,” says Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients and a Member of the Executive Committee of Henley & Partners.

According to Dr Parag Khanna, Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap and author of MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us, the data presents a nuanced contrast between cities ranking high in overall health resilience versus their ease of access to investor migrants. For example, New York and London score very well in economic performance and overall quality of life, but are less investor-friendly than Zurich, Vienna, Singapore, or Lisbon. Not surprisingly, European cities generally top the tables.

Overall Top 5 Cities

London: London’s three highest scores are in education, security, and stability. The city also scores the highest overall in the index for real estate, thanks to the high potential of the local property market. Investors who are eyeing London can rest assured that the UK Investor Immigration Program, introduced in 1994, is one of the longest running, most established residence-by-investment options, providing access to a dynamic business environment and world-class education.

New York: Like London, education, security, and stability are also New York’s top strengths, galvanising its second place spot on the index. New York is home to no less than 130 higher education institutions and scored highest overall in the index for education. The US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is another longstanding option that was created in 1990 to stimulate the economy by allowing foreign entrepreneurs to reside in the country permanently after investing in an American business. Alternatively, participants in Grenada, Montenegro, or Turkey’s citizenship-by-investment programs are then eligible to apply for the E-2 Investor Visa that allows applicants to live, work and study in America as these countries hold E-2 Investor Visa treaties with the USA.

Sydney, Singapore, Zurich: Ranking third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, all three cities have security, infrastructure, and stability as their highest scoring parameters. Australia has been focusing on attracting the brightest and best to strengthen its economy and grow its future-focused sectors. Successful tech entrepreneurs can apply for any of Australia’s residence-by-investment options to obtain permanent residence. The Global Talent visa was specifically designed to attract dynamic, highly skilled individuals to relocate to Australia.

View from Bryant Park. New York has more than 130 higher education institutions.