Singapore VCC insights

How Many Family Offices in Hong Kong? Why 3,380 and Singapore’s 2,000 Measure Different Things

By VCC Editorial Team · Published 16 October 2026

Short answer: Hong Kong had over 3,380 single family offices at the end of 2025, according to a market study commissioned by Invest Hong Kong. Singapore had more than 2,000 single family offices receiving tax incentives at the same date, according to MAS. The first is an estimate of all offices; the second is an administrative count of incentive holders only.

Ask how many family offices in Hong Kong there are and the answer now comes with a headline number, 3,380, that sits awkwardly beside Singapore’s “more than 2,000”. Read side by side, the figures suggest Hong Kong has overtaken Singapore by a wide margin. Read as what they are, they show something narrower: two governments measuring two different populations by two different methods. A single family office (SFO) is a vehicle that manages the wealth of one family and does not serve third-party clients. This article sets out what each count includes, what it leaves out, and why the revised MAS framework that took effect on 15 June 2026 may give Singapore its first count of all SFOs, not only incentive holders.

This article is general information only and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. For matters needing legal advice, we work with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms.

How many family offices in Hong Kong are in operation?

The official figure is over 3,380 single family offices in operation as at the end of 2025. It was announced jointly by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and InvestHK on 10 February 2026.

The source matters. According to the Hong Kong government press release of 10 February 2026, the number comes from a market study on the family office landscape commissioned by InvestHK and carried out by an independent consultant. The same consultant’s earlier work produced the previous figure of around 2,700 SFOs at end 2023, which the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury repeated in a Legislative Council reply on 30 July 2025. The growth of about 680 offices over two years is therefore measured on a consistent basis, but the basis is a study, not a register.

The release and later government statements add some colour to the population being estimated. The study estimates that SFOs in Hong Kong directly employ over 10,000 full-time professionals and spend about HK$12.6 billion a year locally on operating expenditure alone. In a speech on 25 March 2026, the Secretary said that more than half of the 3,380 manage over US$50 million and that the smallest identified manages around US$10 million.

How many family offices are there in Singapore?

MAS has not published a count of all family offices in Singapore. Its latest figure is that more than 2,000 SFOs receive tax incentives as of end December 2025.

That figure is in the MAS written reply to a parliamentary question on the number of SFOs, given by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Chairman of MAS, for the sitting on 5 August 2026. The question asked for the number of approved family offices, their assets under management (AUM) by country of origin, and the applications in process. The reply gave the incentive-holder count and said the families come predominantly from the Asia Pacific region, followed by Europe and the Americas. It gave no AUM breakdown and no pipeline figure.

Earlier MAS replies use the same definition, which makes the series internally consistent:

Date of count	Singapore SFOs with tax incentives (MAS)	Hong Kong SFOs in operation (InvestHK study)
End 2020	400	Not published on this basis
31 December 2023	Around 1,400	Around 2,700
End 2024	Over 2,000	Not published
End 2025	More than 2,000	Over 3,380

Two points follow from the table. First, Singapore’s incentive-holder population grew fivefold in four years. Second, because MAS reported “over 2,000” for both end 2024 and end 2025, the public figures do not show how much it grew during 2025.

Why do the Hong Kong and Singapore counts measure different things?

Hong Kong’s figure estimates every SFO operating in the city, whatever its tax position. Singapore’s figure counts only SFOs whose funds hold a Singapore tax incentive, which is a subset of all SFOs there.

The difference comes from how each regime is built. In Singapore, an SFO typically comes into view of MAS when its fund applies for one of the fund tax incentive schemes, usually under sections 13O or 13U of the Income Tax Act 1947. MAS administers those schemes, so it knows exactly how many awardees there are. An SFO that manages family money in Singapore without seeking an incentive has, until now, had no reason to tell MAS it exists. MAS said in February 2025 that SFOs manage only family money and are therefore not subject to licensing under the Securities and Futures Act.

In Hong Kong, the InvestHK release notes that SFOs are generally not required to obtain a licence. There is no register of SFOs from which to count. The government therefore commissioned a market study to estimate the population, drawing on InvestHK’s own data and the consultant’s research. The tax-incentive subset, FIHVs that have elected into the profits tax concession, is not published. In its 30 July 2025 reply, the government said only a relatively small number of FIHV applications had been received for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 years of assessment and declined to disclose the data to protect taxpayer confidentiality.

Feature	Hong Kong: over 3,380	Singapore: more than 2,000
Who produced it	Consultant study commissioned by InvestHK	MAS administrative records
Method	Market estimate	Count of incentive awardees
Population	All SFOs in operation, regardless of tax status	SFOs whose funds receive tax incentives
Excludes	Multi-family offices; offices the study did not identify	SFOs without incentives; multi-family offices (licensed separately)
Reference date	End 2025	End December 2025
Published in	Press release, 10 February 2026	Parliamentary reply, 5 August 2026
Minimum size implied	None; smallest identified about US$10 million	Incentive conditions, for example S$20 million in designated investments for section 13O

What does each count leave out?

Each figure misses the population the other one captures. Hong Kong’s figure omits nothing by tax status but may miss offices the study did not find; Singapore’s omits every SFO that does not hold an incentive.

The Hong Kong government itself has flagged the limits of its number. In his 25 March 2026 speech, the Secretary said the figure was from an independent survey, that it did not include multi-family offices, and that the true number was likely higher because some families set up offices without government support and are not tracked. On that account, 3,380 is a floor for a broad population.

Singapore’s 2,000 is a floor of a different kind. It is exact for its narrow population, but every SFO operating without a 13O or 13U award sits outside it. That includes offices whose families chose not to meet the incentive conditions, offices managing assets below the scheme minimums, and offices whose principals hold assets directly. MAS’s scheme page for family offices, for example, states a minimum of S$20 million in designated investments for a 13O fund and S$50 million for a 13U fund, together with investment professional and local spending conditions; MAS revised the scheme conditions again by FDD Circular 05/2026 with effect from 1 August 2026. No public figure estimates how many SFOs fall into these groups.

Neither figure measures AUM. MAS links the SFO count to the wider asset management industry, which grew 10.1 per cent in 2025 to S$6.7 trillion, but does not say how much of that sits with SFOs. Hong Kong’s study gives size bands, not a total.

Can the two numbers be compared on a like-for-like basis?

Not with the data now public. A like-for-like comparison needs either Hong Kong’s count of tax-incentivised SFOs or Singapore’s count of all SFOs, and neither has been published.

What can be said with care is limited. Hong Kong’s estimate of all SFOs is larger than Singapore’s count of incentivised SFOs, which is what one would expect when a broad population is set against a narrow one. On the incentive measure alone, the comparison may well run the other way, since Hong Kong reports only a relatively small number of FIHV applications in the regime’s early years, while Singapore reports more than 2,000 incentive holders. That inference rests on Hong Kong’s own description and should not be presented as a numerical ranking.

Readers who need to use either figure in a board paper or investment memorandum can apply a simple discipline:

1. Identify the producer: a regulator’s administrative record, a government-commissioned study, or a private survey.
2. Identify the population: all SFOs, incentive holders only, or SFOs plus multi-family offices.
3. Check the reference date, not the publication date. Singapore’s end 2025 figure was published in August 2026; Hong Kong’s in February 2026.
4. Note whether the figure is a floor (“over”, “more than”) and how it is rounded.
5. Compare only like with like, and say so expressly when the populations differ.

What will Singapore’s 2026 notification regime let MAS count?

For the first time, MAS should be able to count every SFO relying on the licensing exemption, not only incentive holders. The revised framework requires each qualifying SFO to notify MAS and to file an annual return that includes its total AUM.

The MAS media release on the revised framework describes a structure-agnostic class exemption from licensing that took effect on 15 June 2026. SFOs that meet the requirements need only notify MAS of their operations, keep an account with an MAS-licensed bank, and file an annual return stating total AUM and the name of the bank. Existing SFOs have a one-year transition, to 15 June 2027. MAS had foreshadowed this in its February 2025 reply, saying the framework would require SFOs to notify MAS of their presence so that all SFOs are subject to anti-money laundering controls.

Three consequences follow for the statistics:

• After 15 June 2027, MAS should hold a notification for every SFO operating under the class exemption, whether or not it holds a tax incentive.
• Annual returns should give MAS aggregate SFO AUM, which neither government publishes today.
• Any gap between the notified population and the incentive-holder population will show how many Singapore SFOs operate without 13O or 13U awards.

MAS has not said whether, or in what form, it will publish these figures. Until it does, any claim about the total number of SFOs in Singapore is an estimate. For the transition mechanics, see our note on the 15 June 2027 SFO transition.

Does a higher count make Hong Kong the better base for a family office?

No. A count of offices says little about whether a particular family’s structure, assets and people fit a jurisdiction; the legal and tax conditions decide that.

The counts do reflect policy choices. Singapore’s figure is tied to its incentive conditions on AUM, local spending and investment professionals, so it measures families that chose to meet them. Hong Kong’s FIHV regime sets a HK$240 million minimum asset threshold and a substantial activities test of at least two qualified full-time employees and HK$2 million of local operating expenditure, according to the Inland Revenue Department, yet an SFO counted by the study need not use that regime at all. The government said in February 2026 it planned legislation to widen the qualifying investments under the preferential regimes and that it aims to help more than 220 family offices set up or expand in Hong Kong from 2026 to 2028.

For the substantive comparison, see our analysis of family office Singapore vs Hong Kong in 2026, the line-by-line review of Hong Kong’s FIHV regime against 13O and 13U, and our note on minimum AUM for a Singapore family office. Principals weighing several hubs may also find the eleven-hub scorecard useful. Corporate secretarial and incorporation support for a Singapore SFO entity is available through Raffles Corporate Services.

Frequently asked questions

How many family offices are in Hong Kong in 2026?

The latest official figure is over 3,380 single family offices in operation at the end of 2025, announced on 10 February 2026. It comes from a market study commissioned by InvestHK. It excludes multi-family offices, and the government has said the true number is likely higher.

Is Singapore’s 2,000 the total number of family offices there?

No. MAS reported that more than 2,000 SFOs receive tax incentives as at end December 2025. SFOs operating without a 13O or 13U award are not in that figure, and MAS has not published a total.

Does Hong Kong publish how many family offices use its tax concession?

No. In July 2025 the government said a relatively small number of FIHV applications had been received for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 years of assessment and declined to disclose the data to protect taxpayer confidentiality.

When might MAS be able to count all Singapore SFOs?

New SFOs must notify MAS under the framework that took effect on 15 June 2026, and existing SFOs have until 15 June 2027 to comply. After that date MAS should hold notifications and annual AUM returns for all SFOs under the class exemption. Publication is at MAS’s discretion.

Are multi-family offices counted in either figure?

Neither. Hong Kong’s figure covers single family offices only. Singapore’s covers SFOs with tax incentives; multi-family offices serve more than one family and, unlike SFOs, are generally subject to licensing under the Securities and Futures Act.

Need help with this? Call, SMS or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133, or email hello@rafflescorporateservices.com. Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of corporate and employment law firms; this article is general information, not legal advice.

Last reviewed: 16 October 2026. The Editorial Team, variablecapitalcompaniesact.com.

Discuss your fund, family office or trust structure

Contact Raffles Corporate Services about Singapore VCC setup, fund structures, family offices and corporate administration.

• Email: hello@rafflescorporateservices.com
• WhatsApp: +65 8501 7133
• WhatsApp: +65 9018 0072

Where legal assistance is required, we can coordinate an introduction to an associate independent law firm, with your consent. The law firm advises you under a separate engagement. Raffles Corporate Services is not a law firm. Tax, investment management and trustee services, where needed, require appropriately qualified or authorised providers.