11/04/23

WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Middle East Family Offices Eye Hong Kong.

As published on finews.asia, Tuesday 11 April, 2023.

Wealthy individuals from the Middle East are showing interest in setting up family offices in Hong Kong, according to UBS’s Amy Lo, amid government efforts to lure more riches into the city.

In February, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee made a one-week visit to the Middle East to strengthen ties, alongside a local banking delegation that included UBS APAC wealth co-head Amy Lo.

"From my trip to the Middle East in February, a number of investors that I met have shown interest in setting up their family offices here in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong, because they are drawn to the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area," Lo said in an interview with SCMP.

According to Lo, she also met many UBS clients from the US, UK, Switzerland, Thailand and mainland China who travelled to Hong Kong to attend the Wealth for Good summit.

The bank’s outreach to clients includes familiarizing them with new local measures including a revamped investment-based migration scheme, tax incentives and upcoming art storage facilities.

"UBS has proactively reached out to families to introduce the new policies and discuss what it means to them, how they can benefit and help them preserve wealth and legacy," Lo said, highlighting investing, art and philanthropy as key topics.

In addition to the new measures, Financial Secretary Paul Chan also announced that the government would allocate HK$100 million ($12.8 million) to promote family offices during his budget speech in February. This is part of broader ambitions to attract another 200 single-family offices to Hong Kong by 2025.

"We are confident that these initiatives will positively shape Hong Kong’s development as an international center for family offices," Lo added.