inside Hong Kong’s quest to lure the world’s wealthiest clans
March 23, 2025 | by ltcinsuranceshopper
Hong Kong has long been the base of William Louey Lai-kuen’s wealth-generating and charitable endeavours, but the eldest great-grandson of Kowloon Motor Bus’ (KMB) founder said he plans to do more thanks to programmes unveiled by the city’s government.
“Many of my friends have increased their investment and charity activities in Hong Kong after the government introduced many measures to promote family offices two years ago,” he said. “I myself also plan to expand my educational charity in Hong Kong.”
Just two years ago, the government unveiled eight measures at the first Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit with the aim of attracting affluent families to the city so they could set up family offices to manage their investments, art collections, charities – and plan for the future. The measures included tax incentives, a revamped investment-migration scheme, streamlined rules for charitable foundations and the establishment of the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy.
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“For those of you interested in setting up a family office here, I want you to know that the thriving development of your business in Hong Kong is a central policy priority of the government,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu told assembled guests at the summit.
Two years on, all but one of the eight measures has yet to be implemented: an art storage facility at Hong Kong International Airport. That will hopefully become a reality later this year or early next year, according to Jason Fong, the global head of family offices at InvestHK, a government agency tasked with promoting the city.
“The new family office measures have attracted newcomers and encouraged existing family offices … to expand their investments, arts collections and charity activities in Hong Kong,” Fong said in an interview.
Over the past two years, Fong’s office has conducted more than 260 roadshows globally to promote the city and helped 160 family offices to get set up in Hong Kong. An additional 150 family offices plan to follow suit, which would put Lee’s goal of having at least 200 large family offices set up in the city by the end of 2025 well within reach.
Fong said around 70 per cent of the new family offices came from mainland China, while the rest were from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. He said he wanted to undertake further marketing efforts in other parts of Asia and the Middle East in the coming years.
The new investment migration scheme – launched last year – was also drawing capital into the city, said Christopher Hui Ching-yu, the secretary for financial services and the treasury. As of February, he said in an interview, the programme had attracted 910 applicants and was expected to bring in HK$27 billion (US$3.5 billion) worth of investment.
The investment migration scheme allows applicants to invest at least HK$30 million in funds, stocks, bonds or other assets in exchange for residency for their family in the city.
Christopher Hui Ching-yu, the secretary for financial services and the treasury. Photo: Sun Yeung alt=Christopher Hui Ching-yu, the secretary for financial services and the treasury. Photo: Sun Yeung>
“The family offices establishing or expanding their presence in Hong Kong represent a truly global footprint, with origins in the mainland, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and Europe,” Hui said. “This diverse geographic representation underscores Hong Kong’s appeal as a premier hub for family offices worldwide.”
Hui said family offices in Hong Kong invest in mainland China and other parts of Asia, engage in philanthropy and succession planning – and collect art.
According to a Deloitte survey commissioned by the Hong Kong government, there were more than 2,700 single-family offices in Hong Kong at the end of 2023. Over half of them had assets in excess of US$50 million. By comparison, Singapore had 1,650 single-family offices in August 2024, according to government data.
“The number alone shows Hong Kong is one of the premier family office hubs in Asia and on a global level,” said Andrew Lo, the head of family advisory and family office solutions for North Asia at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“The implementation of the eight measures is indeed useful. These measures comprehensively address the needs of global family offices in areas such as residency, tax concessions for investing, pursuits like philanthropy and art, as well as wealth education.”
Lo said the recent stock market rally triggered by DeepSeek’s release of two powerful but cost-effective large language models would provide new investing opportunities for family offices. The Hang Seng Index is up 21 per cent this year after it advanced 18 per cent in 2024, while the Hang Seng Tech Index is nearly 26 per cent higher so far in 2025.
For most of March, the average daily stock market turnover reached HK$296 billion in Hong Kong, more than double the average in the year-earlier period.
“With the increasing trading turnover on the Hong Kong stock exchange, there is potential for more capital raising for family businesses,” Lo said. “We can target family businesses in AI [artificial intelligence] and AI-enabled businesses to list in Hong Kong.”
John Lee Chen-kwok, vice-chairman and co-head of Asia coverage at UBS, said the Hong Kong government’s efforts to lure international investors had drawn interest from “some overseas family offices and Middle Eastern investors” in the fundraising exercises of listed companies like BYD. Earlier this month, the maker of electric vehicles raised US$5.6 billion in a primary share placement. The Al-Futtaim Family Office from the United Arab Emirates took part in the placement.
Hong Kong also had a strong legal framework and a pool of talent focused on succession planning, said Lok Yim, the regional head of global private banking for Asia-Pacific at HSBC. According to experts, insurance companies offer products to affluent customers so they can transfer their wealth to the next generation while avoiding disputes.
“Hong Kong as a leading art market and a growing philanthropy hub plays a significant role that makes Hong Kong an ideal location for family offices who are looking not just for investment opportunities but also for holistic family wealth management solutions”, Yim said.
The education-focused foundation of Louey, the KMB scion, is a good example of how wealthy families can use Hong Kong as a base to conduct their philanthropy.
William Louey at his home on The Peak. Photo: Nora Tam alt=William Louey at his home on The Peak. Photo: Nora Tam>
His charitable organisation, William SD Louey, is named after his grandfather, William Louey Sui-tak, who took over running of the bus company in 1925. The fund was established in 1995 and over the past 30 years, it has disbursed about HK$120 million to send 60 students in total from the mainland to the best schools and universities in the UK and US.
Louey said he would like to expand his organisation’s scope to bring promising but disadvantaged students from Africa, Asia and elsewhere to study Chinese culture, language and technology in Hong Kong.
“China’s technology is now among the best worldwide,” he said. “As such, it is now the time for me to expand my education programme. As a superconnector between China and the world, Hong Kong will be a good location for my education fund to further expand its mission.”
Looking ahead, UBS’ Lo said the government should encourage more family offices to make Hong Kong their regional headquarters.
“Attracting family businesses to set up offices or regional headquarters in Hong Kong will, in turn, attract more family offices to be established here,” Lo said. “This will also encourage family members to spend more time in Hong Kong and become residents.”
Beyond stocks and bonds, the city needs to offer more alternative investment opportunities like private equity, private credit, virtual assets as well as art and collectibles, said Cliff Ip, Greater China divisional councillor at CPA Australia, an accounting industry body.
“A diversified portfolio of innovative and high-yield options will help ensure capital remains deployed in Hong Kong rather than migrating to rival hubs,” Ip said.
Ip also said Hong Kong should offer more top-notch education for children, promote family-friendly neighbourhoods and cultural and religious inclusivity, as well as its healthcare system.
HSBC’s Yim said Hong Kong needs to offer an ecosystem to keep family offices in the city for the long term.
“It is crucial to look beyond conventional tax incentives to foster a sustainable environment for these families to establish long-term roots,” Yim said. “Family offices require a robust ecosystem to thrive.”
He said it was important for the city to keep hosting the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong summit and the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy because they are educational and networking platforms for family offices.
The third Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit will be held on March 26. It drew 100 guests in 2023 and 400 influential people from global family offices in 2024.
The third summit would bring together prominent figures from around the world, Hui said, adding that the event had strengthened Hong Kong’s position as a leading wealth-management centre.
“The summit highlights our strong appeal to global family offices and we would be proud to see it continue to be an annual mega-event that the family offices look forward to,” he said.
The family office campaign is important in Hong Kong’s quest to develop its wealth-management industry. The city was home to about HK$31 trillion in assets under management as of the end of 2023, according to data from the Securities and Futures Commission.
Hong Kong will overtake Switzerland by 2027 as the world’s number one hub for cross-border wealth management, according to estimates from Boston Consulting Group in 2022.
“Hong Kong will not only sustain its status as Asia’s premier family office hub, but also redefine its role in shaping the future of global wealth management,” Hui said.
