{"id":10463,"date":"2025-04-03T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/?p=10463"},"modified":"2025-04-03T16:56:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T08:56:20","slug":"how-to-set-up-a-singapore-family-office-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/how-to-set-up-a-singapore-family-office-in-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Set Up A Singapore Family Office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Singapore currently has about 2,000 family offices<\/a> today, a sharp increase from 400 in end-2020. Singapore is also home to 50% of Southeast Asia’s top family office businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for Single Family Offices or SFOs coming here include Singapore\u2019s strong rule of law, stable political environment, and competitive business landscape aids Singapore’s status as a hub attracting highly skilled talent and quality professional services such as banking, legal and accounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family offices in Singapore are not just Asian ones, but also hail from Europe and America.\u00a0They are also drawn to Singapore with its strong track record as a financial and wealth management hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read Also:<\/em><\/strong> Singapore Global Executive Programme (SGEP): How Young Talents Can Gain Overseas Experience With Singapore Companies<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Single Family Offices (SFO)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An SFO generally acts as a structure through which families manage their affairs.\u00a0It acts as an intermediary between the family and professional advisors (lawyers, investment managers, and accountants) to engage in wealth management, tax planning, estate planning, and the management of the family-owned businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry research<\/a> estimates that each SFO typically manages assets in excess of US$100 million, so the total estimated assets under management by SFOs could be around US$20 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, the MAS and the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) launched two skills maps that set out the competencies that employees of SFOs and external service providers, including private banks, tax advisory firms and legal firms advising the SFOs, should acquire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the work functions include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Understand and assist in the family\u2019s wealth management and succession needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Support management of assets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Participate in the administration of the family office<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Coordinate and plan for family\u2019s wealth ownership management and succession needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Manage assets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Administer the family office\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These skills maps are used by training providers such as the Wealth Management Institute (WMI) and the SMU Business Families Institute to develop relevant training programmes, with co-funding of training fees provided by schemes administered by MAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SFOs can also tap into Singapore ecosystem of over 3,000 startups that are plugged into a global network of over 300 private equity and venture capital managers. There are also more than 190 incubators and accelerators based here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These opportunities provide family offices options to invest in up-and-coming industries in Singapore such as the fintech sector, which attracted a record high of S$1.2 billion in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Are There More SFOs<\/strong> In Singapore<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apart from Singapore\u2019s stable political and economic environment, and the country is a magnet for talent and provides world-class professional services in sectors that complement wealth management, including banking, legal and accounting. Singapore\u2019s status as a wealth hub and reputation for low corruption is another pull for SFOs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore is also known as a safe haven for wealthy individuals, with its reputation as a global financial hub and a high level of political and economic stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of ultra-high net worth individuals (net worth above US$30 million) in the country has risen since 2020, due perhaps to the Covid-19 pandemic and rising geopolitical tensions in other economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What You Need To Know To Set Up An SFO in Singapore<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The SFO structures in Singapore are typically designed to be exempt from regulation under local securities law. This avoids the need for the SFO to obtain a licence or become registered to provide fund management services to the investment vehicles held by a high net-worth family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An SFO that is either licensed to provide fund management services, or is exempt from licensing, is considered to be a fund manager for the purposes\u00a0of Singapore\u2019s fund tax incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Singapore central bank announced new stricter criteria for family offices to receive tax incentives in Singapore and the new rules apply as of 5 July 2023.<\/strong> Applications for funds managed or advised directly by a family office, under Section 130 of the Income Tax Act, must: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

– have a minimum assets under management of S$20 million at the point of application and throughout the incentive period<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– have at least 2 employees (1 of whom cannot be a family member)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– meet a S$200,000 minimum spending requirement with local businesses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– invest the lower of S$10 million or 10% of AUM in: <\/p>\n\n\n\n