Global family offices have been booming in recent years, with Hong Kong and Singapore, both major financial centres in Asia, urging family offices to move in. After the Hong Kong government introduced tax breaks and other facilitation measures, Bloomberg Industry Research (Bloomberg Intelligence) pointed out that Hong Kong is expected to regain some family office businesses, while Singapore is expected to strengthen supervision of private banking businesses after the largest money laundering case in history, and development may be temporarily limited.

The Hong Kong government has set a target in the 2022 Policy Address to assist at least 200 family offices to set up or expand their business in Hong Kong by the end of 2025. The Hong Kong Legislative Council also passed a tax incentive bill for single family offices, and in the 2022-2023 tax year, family investment holding companies with a capital of more than HK$2.4 billion (about NT$9.6 billion) managed by single family offices in Hong Kong are tax-exempt from investment profits. The Hong Kong government also plans to launch a new Capital Investment Entrant Scheme by mid-2024 to attract eligible investors with an investment amount of more than HK$30 million (approximately NT$1.2 billion).

Bloomberg industry research pointed out that Hong Kong's tax incentives are attractive to ultra-high-net-worth individuals to set up a single family office in Hong Kong, while Singapore has stricter requirements for the local operating expenditure and the number of professional investment personnel required for larger family offices to enjoy tax incentives.

Bloomberg industry research pointed out that Singapore may have an advantage for ultra-high-net-worth individuals in Southeast Asia and those who are wary of Hong Kong's influence from Beijing. However, Hong Kong's asset management industry is slightly better due to its scale of the asset management industry, cross-border wealth management resources, lower overall tax burden on companies and individuals, larger IPO and private equity markets, mature financial infrastructure, and easy access to mainland China's capital markets.

According to regulatory data, as of the end of 2022, 17% of the assets under management in Hong Kong's private banking industry (HK$1.5 trillion, about NT$6 trillion) came from family offices and private trusts. Singapore did not disclose the AUM of the family office there.

After Singapore cracked the largest money laundering case in history in 2023, Bloomberg Industry Research expects regulators to tighten supervision, which in turn will affect the number of family offices set up in Singapore. It has been reported that the processing time for applications for single family office tax concessions has soared to 18 months. In recent years, the number of family offices in Singapore has surged from 400 in 2020 to 1,100 in 2022, mainly smaller funds. To enhance the industry's performance and professionalism, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has increased the minimum requirements for capital and talent hiring, and tightened the tax incentives for new family offices.