Asia Pacific’s family offices grow fastest worldwide as ultra-rich population rises: report

Family offices in Singapore nearly tripled between 2020 and 2022.

Asia Pacific’s population of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) grew by 4.8% and their wealth went up by 4.2% last year, resulting in the creation of more family offices across the region especially in Singapore.

The Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2024 showed the number of family offices in APAC grew the fastest last year with 15% of all family offices worldwide now located in the region. 

40% of family offices in APAC were just launched in the past decade which the report traced to the rising ultra-rich population. Many recently set up family offices can be found in Singapore with the number of family offices in the city-state nearly tripling from 400 in 2020 to 1,100 in 2022.

Anirban Bose, financial services strategic business unit CEO at Capgemini, said family offices are better equipped to serve the multi-generational and multi-jurisdictional needs of the ultra wealthy, or individuals with over US$30m in investable assets. 

Globally, the report revealed that half of the respondents see family offices excelling at providing ultra HNWIs’ top four non-financial value-added needs: concierge services, networking opportunities, legal consultation and lifestyle advice.
 
The global HNWI population rose 5.1% to 22.8 million last year with their combined wealth expanding by 4.7% to hit record levels of US$86.8 trillion by the end of 2023.

“This upward trend offsets last year’s decline and puts HNWI trends back on a growth trajectory,” Capgemini said.

The report covered 71 countries globally including Singapore and surveyed 3,119 HNWIs including 1,300 ultra HNWIs.

A separate report by HSBC showed wealthy Singaporeans are expected to keep their allocations to cash to an average of 27% in the next 12 months, among the lowest globally.