As Hong Kong and Singapore continue to attract Family Offices from across the world, we thought we would share our own insights into Family Offices within the region.
Last week we reported that the Hong Kong Government was ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for Family Offices in the city.
The authorities spent much of Q3 launching a series of legislation, incentives and guidance aimed at offering Family Offices a home within the Cosmopolitan City, already known for its thriving economy and international trade.
Since then, the Family Office Association Hong Kong has been launched under the leadership of Chi Man Kwan who; aside from acting as Chairman of the Board, remains CEO and Founder of Raffles Family Office. He recently announced plans to grow its $2BN in Assets Under Management to $10BN through the acquisition of smaller Asset Managers.
But while Hong Kong continues to flourish as a playground for family-managed wealth, Singapore is continuing to attract Western Family Offices.
This week Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio joins the likes of James Dyson and Haidilao’s Shu Ping by setting up a Family Office in Singapore.
Singapore is already home to more than 200 Family Offices and Hong Kong has 50 which is only set to increase as the Family Office Association push to consolidate wealth in the city.
Chi Man Kwan has already stated his interest from European Family Offices but how do offices in the Asia-Pacific compare?
As part of our recent Global Benchmark Compensation Report, we analysed the trends of Family Offices across the world monitoring the salaries, compensation and demographic of employees, their Assets Under Management, the asset class they favour and how their compensation aligns with both.
It has proven to be an insightful read, magnifying trends specific to each corner of the world. For instance, Asia-based Family Office CEOs can reach a salary of $396,000 – one of the highest globally – with CFOs also well-paid on $264,000.
In Asia, Family Offices are also located in three key areas: Singapore (25%), Hong Kong (20%) and Australia (20%). They have the lowest amount of family members in CEO position with 80% external hires and have a high proportion of male employees at 73%.
Family Offices across APAC mostly have less than five employees (44%), manage less than $250M in AUM (32%) and have more than six years of experience. One-third of Family Offices have been in operation for over 10 years and unlike many parts of the world, every Family Office in the region provides a bonus to staff as part of their compensation structure which more than a third of the time, is 31-50% of the given salary.
With Family Offices almost guaranteeing high compensation, offering more autonomy to non-family members and, keeping to small and dynamic teams – are we surprised that Hong Kong and Singapore are recruiting Europe and America’s top family offices?