SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Lee Woon Shiu and Catherine Cheung, DBS Private Bank
Introduction Singapore’s private wealth management sector has moved beyond traditional offshore asset allocation and pure financial return optimisation. This evolution continues to be driven by greater geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility, and the steady influx of sophisticated ultra-high net worth individuals into Sin - gapore. Global uncertainty is increasing the demand for resilient, cross-border wealth structures. Ultra- high net worth families expect bespoke, institution - ally robust structures aligned with their unique legal, philanthropic, succession and governance objectives. This explains the growing demand for comprehensive tailored solutions for succession planning and inter - generational wealth transfer across diverse jurisdic - tions that integrate family offices, trust and insurance solutions, tax optimisation, philanthropy and robust family governance. With the next-generation wealth owners getting more involved, investment priorities are expanding. Portfoli - os increasingly include novel digital assets, high-value alternative investments such as art pieces, early-stage technology ventures and artificial intelligence (AI), while maintaining a strong emphasis on environmen - tal, social and governance (ESG) considerations or impact-driven frameworks. Continued Growth and Refinement of Family Offices in Singapore Family offices have firmly established themselves as the pre-eminent vehicle for consolidating, safeguard - ing and managing global wealth. Historically concen - trated in Western financial centres, the global distri - bution of family offices has systematically pivoted toward the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore remains a favoured hub for ultra-high net worth individuals to establish their family offices. The growth trajectory is significant, with the number of single-family office (SFO) funds awarded tax incentives by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) having surged from 400 in 2020 to over 2,000 as of mid-2026. This represents an incredible multi-year growth trajectory when con - trasted against the mere few dozen SFOs in 2017.
Appeal of Singapore’s Tax System and Tax Incentive Schemes Singapore’s competitive corporate tax rate of 17% and the absence of capital gains tax remain significant drawcards. MAS has consistently tightened qualifying criteria for the existing Enhanced-tier Fund Tax Incentive Scheme (S13U), Onshore Fund Tax Incentive Scheme (S13O) and Offshore Fund Exemption Scheme (S13D) – col - lectively the Schemes. The Schemes are all being extended until 31 December 2029 and aim to attract high-quality wealthy families, thus generating the need to put stringent economic requirements in place, such as local investments, employment of local investment professionals, minimum fund sizes, and contributions to ESG causes. MAS Revised Framework for SFOs The most critical change in 2026 is the long-awaited MAS revised framework, which was officially launched and took effect on 15 June 2026. Under this revised framework, the historical practice of granting individ - ual, bespoke licensing exemptions to SFO managers has been replaced by a unified, structure-agnostic class exemption regime. SFOs no longer need to apply for individual licensing exemptions from MAS. Any SFO that strictly satisfies predefined conditions automatically qualifies for a class licensing exemption under the Securities and Futures Act, removing the requirement to seek case-by-case individual approv - als. “Structure-agnostic” class exemption The framework is now structure-agnostic, which means that – regardless of how the family office is legally configured (whether using trust arrangements, limited liability partnerships or holding companies) – all qualifying SFOs automatically operate under a single statutory class licensing exemption, provided they satisfy all the conditions to operate in Singapore, as prescribed under the revised licensing exemption framework. The class exemption mandates that the SFO must
manage assets exclusively for: • members of a single family;
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