Hong Kong is well on track to have 3,000 family offices

Staff reporter

The number of family offices in Hong Kong is set to surpass 3,000 in the near future as more investors flock to the city amid geopolitical tensions, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu says.

Hong Kong currently has over 2,700 family offices, with more than 30 percent managing assets worth over US$100 million (HK$780 million), Hui said yesterday.

The city aims to assist at least 200 family offices in either setting up or expanding their operations by the end of the year.

Hui said that as the global political and economic landscape grows increasingly uncertain and unpredictable, Hong Kong stands out as a "stable, predictable, and well-regulated financial hub."

Hui said the ongoing debate over CK Hutchison's (0001) planned Panama port deal had not affected the investment sentiment of family offices.

"During the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit, no attention was given to the debate, with the focus instead on measures and incentives for setting up family offices in the city," he said.

The summit, co-organized by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and Invest Hong Kong, drew 360 global family office principals, business leaders and industry pioneers, and concluded on March 26.

Hong Kong is expected to become the world's largest cross-border wealth management hub between 2027 and 2028. Around 160 family offices have either decided or are planning to set up in Hong Kong, with roughly a quarter of them from Europe and the US, according to InvestHK.

Hui also revealed that the authorities are planning to expand the scope of tax exemptions for family offices, including investments in private lending, virtual assets and carbon credits.

The government aims to submit the bill to the Legislative Council next year, and the goal is to have the new rules take effect retroactively from April 1, 2025, he said.