The luxury goods industry has provided a handy barometer for wealth managers spotting trends as to where the money is flowing.

There’s no doubt that the market for everything from jewellery to yachts is tracked by the wealth management industry not just because these can be fun to read about but because of their trend-indicative power. When this publication recently described Chinese demand for mega-yachts, for example, it attracted plenty of reader recommendations. (To view that article, click here.)

Definitions of luxury vary: as WealthBriefing reported recently, even the high end of the healthcare industry counts as a luxury service and there are businesses, such as Viavi, for example, which cater to such needs. “Luxury” needn’t be just about flashy jewels, ultra-fast cars or huge sailing boats. It extends more broadly.

Luxury hits a number of wealth management themes: the services and goods are not just often sought-after for their clients' pleasure. They are often also strong “real asset” investments in a world increasingly fearful about inflation and the economic outlook. Gold jewellery is an obvious example: they are items of great allure, but at record highs, gold is also a strong inflation hedge. Understanding what makes the luxury market tick is not straightforward.

There is now more data being collected about the luxury market than before. Organisations such as the UK’s Ledbury Research and the US-based Luxury Institute track trends in the is sector. There are investment funds – such as the Julius Baer Luxury Brands Fund, which follow the luxury sector. For example, one firm which keeps an eye on luxury is Stonehage, the multi-family office. It has created an index monitoring the price of luxury goods and services used by ultra high net worth individuals in London. (Latest data - click here - by Stonehage showed prices rose by an average of 6 per cent in the 12 months to the end of April, well ahead of the regular consumer price index.)

Another hard-to-miss theme in recent years has been the rise of a brand-conscious Asian middle class. The shift in economic gravity towards the East is having a big impact on how luxury goods and services firm deploy their best talents. The figures are eye-watering: Asia is rapidly catching up with North America as the world’s richest region. There is a total of $11 trillion of private wealth in Asia, only $2 trillion behind North America (source: Citi Private Bank and Knight Frank). Asia is now on a par with Europe. In February this year, a fund manager for Swiss & Global said the luxury goods market would expand by 8 to 10 per cent this year, driven by emerging markets as well as a rebound in developed market consumption.

Who knows if all these claims will be borne out by events? To keep ahead of trends, wealth management professionals will have a chance to rub shoulders and gain insights at a forthcoming conference, The Luxury Briefing Wealth Summit 2011, organised by the London-based publishing firm Luxury Briefing.

The event is being held at the sumptuous Corinthia Hotel in London’s Whitehall district. Speakers include Ben Elliott, founder of concierge firm Quintessentially; Stephen Quinn, publisher of Vogue; Peter Collett, an Oxford academic and psychologist, and Susan Boster, CEO of the Boster Group. To view more about the conference, click here.

WealthBriefing will be represented at the event to report on what is said.