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Hong Kong has seen a sharp increase in wealthy clients opening accounts to manage their assets this year, surpassing other centres like Singapore as the most favourable destination for asset management, according to a report released on Thursday by the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) and KPMG China. Some 44 per cent of PWMA members, including top global private banks like UBS, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, said their clients preferred Hong Kong over other cities – a jump from the 13 per cent last year, according to the 10th annual edition of the Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Report. Some 59 per cent of private wealth firms reported an increase in demand from wealthy clients to book their assets in Hong Kong, up from 34 per cent in 2024. In comparison, only 30 per cent of private wealth firms saw an increase of clients seeking to book their assets in Singapore, down from 52 per cent last year, the report said. The findings were based on a survey of 44 PWMA members as well as interviews with top bankers conducted in July and August. The outlook for Hong Kong was overwhelmingly positive, the survey found, with all PWMA members expressing optimism about the city’s wealth management market over the next five years – up from 76 per cent last year. “Hong Kong’s established role as a gateway to mainland China [and its] ongoing investment in financial infrastructure continue to reinforce its position as a premier wealth management hub,” the report said. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po attributed the sector’s growth to the strong showing of the stock market and initial public offering market, alongside the multiple cross-border trading schemes with the mainland and the promotion of family offices in Hong Kong. “We are confident that Hong Kong is on track to become the world’s largest cross-boundary wealth management centre,” Chan said in a speech at a summit organised by PWMA. “But our ambition goes further. Our vision is to elevate Hong Kong’s appeal as a premier global investment destination.” Chan also projected that the city would continue to welcome numerous listings and market reforms in coming years. The benchmark Hang Seng Index has soared over 30 per cent this year, following an 18 per cent gain last year, as international investors flocked to Chinese tech stocks after the DeepSeek breakthrough in December and January, in which it delivered efficient artificial intelligence technology at a low cost. The average daily turnover in the Hong Kong stock market has doubled to more than US$33 billion this year, with the city hosting 80 IPOs, raising over US$26 billion, and climbing to the top of the global IPO rankings. Chan said more than 40 per cent of these IPO funds involved international investors from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the US and Europe, underscoring the city’s ability to attract global capital. Hong Kong-domiciled retail funds recorded net inflows of US$43 billion in the first eight months of the year, Chan said. This came after a 13 per cent growth in total assets under management in the city to US$4.5 trillion last year, including a 15 per cent increase in private banking and wealth management assets, which rose to over US$1.2 trillion. “We are thrilled to see Hong Kong firmly back on its growth trajectory,” said Amy Lo Choi-wan, chairwoman of the PWMA executive committee and co-head of wealth management for Asia-Pacific at UBS, at the summit. Looking ahead, family offices and next-generation clients were expected to be the key growth engines over the next five years, the report said. Wealthy clients from the mainland were also expected to continue to grow to represent 63 per cent of all private banking and wealth clients in the city within five years, compared with the current 57 per cent, the report added. Southeast Asian clients would drop from 12 per cent to 10 per cent over the same period, while US clients would fall from 10 per cent to 8 per cent. Wealthy clients were also planning to invest more in alternative assets like private credit, according to the report. Investment in these areas would rise to 15 per cent of their assets by 2030, from the current 5 per cent. AI and digitalisation remained the top investment themes for clients this year, the same as last year. “As we embrace AI and digital innovation, technology will redefine how wealth services [operate], enhancing agility, efficiency and client engagement,” Lo said. “These developments will reinforce Hong Kong’s role as the world’s largest cross-border wealth management centre, supported by its super-connector advantages and mature capital markets infrastructure.”
