Malaysia’s securities regulator has approved six single family offices with 400 million ringgit (US$94.81 million) of combined assets under management under a scheme launched last year, a better response than anticipated by the government, which has now set a higher target.
Five of the families are from Malaysia and one from Singapore, Azalina Adham, managing director of Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), said at a press conference on October 6. None of them were identified by name.
She said the six were among 30 expressions of interest received for the scheme, and that there have been more than 50 consultations.
According to Azalina, the 400 million ringgit of assets represented by the six families beat the government’s initial estimates.
“The finance ministry has upped the target for us to try and land [a cumulative] 2 billion ringgit [by] next year,” she said.
The initial target was for the scheme to attract family offices with 1.2 billion ringgit of assets by 2030.
Single family offices stand to enjoy zero tax rate on their investment returns for 20 years under the scheme, which was launched in September 2024. But it only applies to those that set up shop in the Forest City Special Financial Zone in the southern Johor state, about a 45 minute drive from Singapore.
Family offices will also need to have at least 30 million ringgit of assets under management, invest the lower of at least 10 million ringgit or 10% of their assets in Malaysia, and spend 500,000 ringgit a year on local operations, such as for wages and rent.
