Interested in buying a giant pink mansion in Atlanta complete with 24-carat-gold sinks, a giant dining room with wall-sized aquarium and bathrooms built like Egyptian tombs – for the bargain price of $40m? No? Well, you're not alone.

The super-rich may have remained relatively insulated from the financial crisis, with ultra high net worth wealth (investors worth more than $30m) rising by a fifth last year, according to Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.