London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - September 25, 2024) - Released today, the eighth edition of the CBI Index provides data-driven analysis into the world's top investment migration programmes in 2024.
This year's CBI Index has a unique focus on balancing global calls for transparency with the transitions necessary to achieve this transparency.
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The CBI Index is a comprehensive ranking of operational Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes. Nearing a decade of excellence, the Index is the ultimate cross-jurisdictional investment tool for global investors.
This year, the CBI Index focusses on the challenges and opportunities that arise from an industry that is balancing global calls for transparency with transitions and innovations necessary to achieve transparency.
Uniquely, the CBI Index is useful for discerning investors who wish to use the Index to compare CBI programmes as a whole, seeing the 'big picture' of CBI, and for investors who wish to compare specific aspects of each programme.
Taking stock of industry trends and favouring a data-focused approach, the Index is a trusted voice in the industry. As the investment migration industry faces heightened scrutiny and a chaotic geopolitical environment, the Index's offering has never been more important.
The CBI Index also features an in-depth look at the state of the investor migration industry, with experts giving their analysis in an 'Ensuring Citizenship by Investment's Long Term Sustainability' panel.
Panellists include Prof. Kristin Surak, Associate Professor in Political Sociology at the London School of Economics; Bruno L'ecuyer, Chief Executive of the Investment Migration Council; and Henry Fan, CEO and founder of the Globevisa Group.
'The CBI Index has established itself as a vital instrument for individuals embarking on the daunting journey of choosing a CBI programme in the current climate. Just as we're seeing in financial markets, investors are having a particularly tough time maintaining and safeguarding the value of their portfolios whilst navigating the elevated macroeconomic and geopolitical instability of today. And here, investment migration is no different,' says James McKay, creator of the CBI Index and independent research consultant with expertise in global trend analyses.
'Therefore, the value of the CBI Index's mandate to both provide readers with the biggest changes in the industry and appraise all key elements of active citizenship by investment programmes for individuals considering them has arguably never been greater,' McKay added.
The CBI Index approaches CBI programmes through the lens of nine factors, denoted as 'pillars,' to evaluate programme features and desirability of different jurisdictions.
Each year, the Index uses these pillars to rank the performance and appeal of CBI programmes across a diverse range of indicators and measures.
As programmes continually change, the Index provides the industry with timely, annual updates to better understand why programmes have gained popularity, renown and relevance.
Selected for their relevance and comprehensiveness of measurement, the 2024 CBI Index pillars include:
Standard of Living
Freedom of Movement
Investment Options and Threshold
Mandatory Travel or Residence
Citizenship Timeline
Ease of Processing
Due Diligence
Family
Certainty of Product
The intricate combination of benchmarking, statistical analysis, and comparative investigation is what makes the CBI Index the number one tool for cross-jurisdictional planning for investors looking to set up their businesses, grow their assets and even find a new home for their families in different markets.
St. Kitts leads Index with four perfect scores
For the second year in a row, St. Kitts and Nevis is the outright winner in the 12-country strong CBI Index ranking.
Five Caribbean countries snagged the top five spots; following St. Kitts and rounding out the top five ranked countries in the Index were Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda.
Consistent with previous years, the Caribbean CBI programmes overtook European and Asian counterparts, rounding out the Index's top five.
Adjusting to the ever-shifting geopolitics of the industry and world at large, St. Kitts and Nevis took first place at 84 per cent. Receiving a perfect score in four pillars and receiving high marks in almost all pillars, the Federation has once again distinguished itself as an industry leader.
Each of the nine pillars is scored out of a maximum of ten points and St. Kitts and Nevis got full marks for Mandatory Travel or Residence, Ease of Processing, Due Diligence and Certainty of Product.
Dominica received perfect scores for Mandatory Travel or Residence and Ease of Processing.
Grenada took third place, while Saint Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda took fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Enhanced transparency for a world in transition
The investment migration industry adapted to an increasingly uncertain environment, with regulatory changes and geopolitical tensions.
With this ever-changing backdrop, the CBI Index took stock of industry changes and geopolitical tensions to assess the state of the industry in 2024.
Perhaps the most striking industry development in 2024 occurred in March, when Caribbean CBI countries banded together to sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).
Addressing concerns from international partners in Europe and the United States, this landmark agreement harmonised CBI practices, including minimum investment thresholds and information sharing between Unit heads.
Geopolitics also encouraged countries to fortify their programmes against potential threats, with St. Kitts, Dominica and others introducing enhanced and consolidated CBI regulations.
For example, the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East and continued war in Europe encouraged high-net-worth individuals to seek out a viable 'Plan B.' Programmes had to adjust to these realities, including by banning applicants from certain high-risk countries.
Demonstrating an adaptability to changing geopolitics, the 2024 CBI Index spotlights how Caribbean CBI countries adjusted their compliance, investment thresholds, due diligence and other mechanisms to meet the standards of international partners.
CBI Index, still the most trusted cross-jurisdictional planning tool
Entering its eighth year, the CBI Index stands as the most trusted source for discerning global investors pursuing Citizenship by Investment solutions.
All 12 CBI programmes are analysed and subsequently ranked according to nine pillars with reliance being placed on official sources and data publications from institutions of the highest international standing, as well as on the specialised input of industry experts, whose contributions and responses were used to obtain and interpret both qualitative and quantitative data used in the construction of the CBI Index.
In the 2024 CBI Index, the Standard of Living Pillar is a measure of the level of wealth, comfort, and material goods offered by the 12 CBI jurisdictions under assessment. This pillar is vital to those who yearn to relocate and secure a prosperous and fulfilling lifestyle and for those wanting to take advantage of local business opportunities or seeking additional geographical diversification for their assets.
The Freedom of Movement Pillar measures the relative strength of each country's citizenship on the basis of three equally weighted factors: the number of destinations to which a country's passport allows travel without restriction; the number of business-friendly centres to which it provides access; and the degree to which a given citizenship provides settlement rights in other nations.
The newly-redesigned Investment Options and Threshold Pillar measures one of the most practical and foremost considerations of CBI: how much capital is required for the investor to become an eligible applicant for the programme of their choosing and what the available options are to deploy said capital.
The Mandatory Travel or Residence Pillar examines the travel or residence conditions imposed on applicants both before and after the granting of citizenship. Often busy with running a business or international travel, global citizens have little time to fulfil minimum stay requirements.
The Citizenship Timeline Pillar looks at the average time taken for citizenship to be secured by the applicant. The time at which application forms and supporting documentation are processed, and
the steps involved in approving an application, vary between programmes. Therefore, a thorough inspection of applicable laws, regulations, and policies was made to determine the official processing times mandated by each jurisdiction.
The Ease of Processing Pillar measures the end-to-end complexity of the CBI application process. In some jurisdictions, the application process can be a labour-intensive and painstaking task that is time-consuming for the applicant; in others, it is streamlined, and the applicant receives clear directives on how to proceed.
The Due Diligence Pillar focuses on each nation's commitment to ensuring that their programme remains transparent and effective at evaluating potential candidates for citizenship. It is, therefore, a measure of each programme's integrity.
The Family Pillar measures the extent to which investors can obtain citizenship for their immediate and extended family. The CBI Index recognises that the rise of increasingly complex family relationships is driving investors to seek programmes that allow for a more diverse range of family members to be included under a primary application. While most CBI programmes provide for the inclusion of spouses and minor children, only a handful of countries do so for adult children and extended family.
The Certainty of Product Pillar encompasses a range of factors that measure a programme's certainty across five different dimensions: longevity, popularity and renown, stability, reputation and adaptability. With the CBI industry currently in a state of flux amid a tightening regulatory landscape, it is more important than ever to provide investors with a means of differentiating a programme's relative robustness.
CONTACT:
CBI Index Communications
CBI Index
+44(0)2073184343
info@cbiindex.com
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