Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Thursday said Hong Kong’s wealth management sector is growing strongly and is well positioned to capture a fair share of business emanating from shifting global affluence.

In a keynote speech at the Wealth Management Summit, he pointed to a survey in July by the Securities and Futures Commission that showed assets under management jumped 20 percent to more than HK$42 trillion.

The city, Chan said, is now the largest cross-boundary wealth management centre in the world.

A survey by summit organiser Private Wealth Management Association offered a similarly encouraging picture, as it found 77 percent of member firms reported stronger demand to open accounts or book client assets in Hong Kong and that 94 percent were moderately or highly optimistic about the city's prospects over the next five years.

Chan said sentiment at this week’s Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit, which drew some 280 international leaders from the sector, including around 120 chairmen or chief executives, was "decidedly positive", with some planning to increase investment and headcount in the city.

International capital was showing fresh confidence in Hong Kong, he said, with it being reinforced by policy measures to boost private wealth management.

"Our tax concession for family-owned investment vehicles is now well established and Hong Kong is home to over 3,300 single-family offices, up 25 percent in just two years," he said at the summit.

"The New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme has received some 4,300 applications, representing an expected investment of HK$150 billion, and we have introduced legislation to further enhance the preferential tax regimes for funds, single-family offices and carry interest, which we aim to pass by the end of this year."

Chan said higher rates and uncertainty were redrawing the map for capital flows, with cash earning a return again and investors diversifying across markets and currencies.

Hong Kong is a clear beneficiary, he said, noting that deposits rose 7.7 percent to HK$20.9 trillion in the first nine months of this year.

Initial public offerings raised, Chan pointed out, a record HK$388 billion and capital is arriving from the United States and Europe, as well as the mainland, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

He also pointed to technology and AI as a growing source of wealth: tech is now the largest source of wealth among the world's richest tycoons, and mainland billionaire fortunes rose over 20 percent to US$1.8 trillion last year.

Hong Kong is capturing it at source – 116 A- and H-share listings in the first three quarters accounted for about 70 percent of funds raised, over half of which were in AI, semiconductors and robotics, with some 500 applications in the pipeline.




Edited by Tony Sabine