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Alongside a rapid rise in wealth accumulation globally, the number of family offices worldwide have grown significantly, with the number increasing fivefold between 2017 to 2019 in Singapore alone. Aside from hosting a deeply diverse pool of wealth management talent and having a variety of attractive tax incentive schemes to benefit from, Singapore is renowned for its political and economic stability and robust legal infrastructure, making it the choice hub for ultra-high-net-worth families seeking to set up their family office.
As these families accumulate financial capital, their needs and responsibilities get more complex and challenging to address. Several forms of family office services have existed for many years, often seeing wealthy families organising an inner circle of trusted advisors to centralise the management of their wealth.
Today, the family office brings renewed relevance as it broadens its role to a more diverse landscape of financial and non-financial needs that include private wealth management, family governance, legacy planning, knowledge and cultural transfer, philanthropy, investment management, insurance, and management of family-owned businesses amidst global volatility and the emergence of new technologies. These areas must be considered in the broader context of individual members’ desires, family perceptions, as well as the macroeconomic and regulatory landscape the families operate within. Yet, family offices’ primary interests have similarities— to support wealthy families with a wide range of advisory, professional and operational capabilities to grow and preserve their wealth for generations.
Setting up a family office in Singapore can be an extensive process with complex considerations, and we understand the challenges families face, especially when it comes to obtaining independent advice.
Here are some things to consider when setting up a family office:
A single family office exists to govern and manage assets for one family and is wholly owned by members of the same family. This set up typically hires several professional staff, resulting in significant operating costs, which makes it viable only if the family has large investable assets.
While multi-family offices govern the interests of each client family independently, it achieves economies of scale by consolidating operational expenses such as office space, operational, regulatory, and legal resources through serving multiple families. As a larger institution, multi-family offices have more resources – access to a wider pool of investment professionals, trusted network of external specialists, exclusive investment opportunities, deep connections with industry veterans, along with extensive capabilities to research and advise families which single family offices may lack. Rigorous governance structures and operational protocols are also in place to serve as institutional memory to safeguard your family’s interests.
Define your core objectives for setting up your family office. This can be driven by your personal wealth transfer plans, tax planning, lifestyle services and investment strategy to frame pertinent needs that will determine the structure of the family office vehicle, and the types of assets to be placed under the family office’s purview.
If you would like to set up a family office in Singapore, with plans to relocate yourself or family members, you will have to consider residency statuses that best suit your family’s needs and apply for the relevant schemes offered by the Singapore government.
With a firm understanding of your family’s unique needs, independent, trusted advisors can provide unbiased advice, superior service and meaningful relationships. Furthermore, having served other families before, family office advisors can leverage knowledge gleaned to arrive at the best solution for client families.
At Golden Equator Wealth, we believe that family capital is just as important as financial capital for business families to successfully navigate wealth across generations.
As an Asia-focused multi-family office based in Singapore, we meet ultra-high-net-worth families’ needs in wealth and beyond. Our holistic and independent approach supports families’ intergenerational wealth with an integrated service model that is inherently essential when putting our clients’ interests first.
We are committed to delivering long-term value through deep understanding, profound knowledge, and principles anchored on the tenets of integrity, trust, and continuity to achieve your multigenerational aspirations. The Golden Equator Wealth brand operates under Golden Equator Capital Pte. Ltd. which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
