Singapore saw a 42.9% jump in single-family offices with some 600 new ones setting up shop in the city state last year, double the number in 2023, bringing the total to more than 2,000 as of end-December from 1,400 in the previous year.
Chee Hong Tat, deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the second finance minister, disclosed the figures in his keynote speech at an investment conference on January 14.
According to Chee, the increase was driven by Singapore’s “pro-business and pro-innovation stance”, which gives investors a “stable, well-regulated environment where they can take a long-term view”.
“MAS wants to continue to work closely with the [family office] sector to see how we can grow further; there will be more interest from investors to look at Singapore as a key node,” he said.
More than half the new offices appear to have been established in the final four months of 2024 based on figures Chee released in September. He had said then that the total number as of end-August was 1,650.
Easier rules for single-family offices unveiled in November, including opening up shareholding to non-family employees, may have been a lure.
