Singapore Expected To Lure More Uber-rich Chinese

SINGAPORE – The city-state is being targeted by more newly-minted billionaires and millionaires from China as a place where they can park their riches, according to a report from The Business Times that was updated on Friday evening (19 August, SGT).

In fact, the number of new family offices established in Singapore has not only spiked over the past few years, nearly 44 percent or 63 of the newly created 143 family offices in April 2022 came from China, and that figure is poised to increase further.

For instance, the move by Singapore’s central bank to increase the requirement for family offices to qualify for tax benefits are expected to entice family offices and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) that seek exclusivity.

Moreover, raising the requirements makes having a Singapore-based family office even more sought-after status symbol among the newly rich. This is because it implies having a minimum net of S$50 million to be able to set aside a fund size of at least S$10 million. And this will be increased to S$20 million in two years. Previously, there was no minimum fund size before the latest changes.

Apart from its financial and political stability, Singapore also functions as a gateway for businesses into the rest of ASEAN region.

The new generation of HNWIs from Greater China are younger with greater appetites for risk. Some even relocated to Singapore to be able to do business here. Their interests range from traditional industries like properties and consumer goods, to newer sectors like digital banking and digital assets.

Looking ahead, an additional 10,000 Chinese HNWIs are expected to leave China in 2022. While they only comprise merely 1 percent of the HNWIs in China, they are expected to carry an average of US$4.8 million worth of capital assets. This would bring China’s overall estimated outflow to roughly US$48 billion.