Korea’s super-rich funds 2% of those in Hong Kong, Singapore

Hong Kong and Singapore, leaders in Asia’s family office market, are attracting funds from global ‘super-rich’ individuals with their generous tax benefits, while South Korea, with its high tax burden, makes up a mere 2 percent of the size of the advanced market.

According to industry and government sources in Hong Kong and Singapore, the number of family office corporations in Hong Kong totaled 2,700 as of the end of 2023, while the number in Singapore was 1,400. The total assets under management by family offices in the two territories amount to 5,500 trillion won each.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have adopted pro-business economic policies, offering 100 percent tax exemptions on key taxes such as inheritance tax, corporate tax, and dividend income tax to attract corporate family funds.

The U.S.-China conflict and the Chinese government’s ‘common prosperity’ policy under Xi Jinping have led to an exodus of corporate families from Hong Kong to Singapore. However, Hong Kong recently improved tax incentives and investment immigration policies, seizing an opportunity as Singapore tightened regulations on the establishment of family offices to prevent money laundering crimes.

The fledgling family office market in Korea, meanwhile, only has around 20 entities, and the combined asset size of the family offices of the top five securities firms in the country totals around 100 trillion won.