Report: Wealthy Nevadans received more in dividends, less in interest

Dividends and overall investment income increased for wealthy Nevadans in 2010 but capital gains and interest income were down, according to a new report.The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank released its fourth High Net Worth briefing, which contrasted 2010 data with information from three previous years. It was done for the bank by Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based research firm.“The trends witnessed in Nevada are relatively consistent with those being reported nationally,” said Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis, the managing researcher on the project. “However, Nevada’s impacts tended to be more extreme both on the way up and the way down.”Russell Price, The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank executive vice president, said the trends were consistent with his experience in recent years and suggest to him wealthy households should think about re-evaluating investments now.“There are opportunities to increase asset productivity while maintaining a conservative level of risk,” he said.The report, based on tax returns for those in Nevada making $200,000 or more, showed average income in the surveyed group dropped 25.6 percent from 2006 to 2009, from about $840,000 to $625,000, but 2010 produced a 13.2 percent boost from 2009 as the average rose to almost $708,000.The report also indicated taxable interest income dropped from more than $60,000 in 2007 to more than $31,000 in 2010 as more investing was done in lower-risk areas and yields plunged.Dividend income increased 42.1 percent, from almost $53,000 to more than $75,000 in a comparison of 2006 to 2010, but capital gains dropped 35.2 percent in 2010, compared with 2006, reaching an average of almost $276,000 in 2010. The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank serves high-net-worth clients and is an unincorporated division of Nevada State Bank, the largest state-chartered bank in the Silver State with 52 branches statewide.