Family Office Management in Singapore

There is a growing trend for high-net-worth individuals to manage their wealth by migrating to and setting up their family offices in Singapore. This is due to Singapore’s strong regulatory framework, stable policies, and well-developed infrastructure and financial industries. Besides being a stable and well-regulated financial hub, Singapore has wealth-friendly regulations and an attractive tax regime. Together with its deep pool of talent in the private banking, asset management, legal, and finance sectors, Singapore has become one of the most attractive places to set up a family office. This article will introduce – in greater detail – the concept of a family office and its incorporation requirements.

Family Office in Singapore

Family Office is a wealth management solution that can be tailored to meet the needs of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and their families. It is essentially a fund management advisory company set up to oversee the administration, preservation, growth, and intergenerational transfer of a high net-worth family’s assets and investments. In addition, the family office can also handle non-financial issues, such as private schooling, travel arrangements, and other miscellaneous household arrangements.

Common investment services provided by or coordinated through family offices include:

2 Types of Family Office in Singapore

Single Family Office (SFO)

Single Family Office serves just one ultra-affluent family. It is a legal entity established by a wealthy family for the purpose of wealth management and wealth planning for family members. It is a private company owned and controlled by family members. Single Family Office manages assets for and on behalf of only the family. Assets go into the family fund, and the fund investment is selected by the client or the financial planner. A Single Family Office in Singapore is not required to register for fund licenses such as Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) or Licensed Fund Management Company with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Multi-Family Office (MFO)

The Multi-Family Office is a family office created by a combination of families that are not necessarily related to each other. There are three main sources:

A Multi-Family Office requires Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) and Licensed Fund Management Company (LFMC) fund licenses, similar to Enterprise Asset Management (EAM).

Singapore Tax Incentive Schemes for Family Office’s Investment Fund

In Singapore, HNWI families are welcome to set up their family offices to manage their investments globally. To encourage HNWIs families to set up their family offices, the Singapore government has introduced tax exemption incentives for funds managed by family offices for both offshore and onshore vehicles. These tax incentive schemes are:

The following above provides a brief introduction to a family office and highlights the various investment funds eligible for the tax incentives schemes in Singapore.

At Global Immigration, we can help you to better understand how you can set up a family office in Singapore, as well as the applicable tax incentive schemes for your investment funds. Contact us now!

	Type Of Investment Fund
	Section 13CA Offshore Fund	Section 13R Onshore Fund	Section 13X Enhanced Tier Fund
Fund’s Legal Form	Companies, trusts, and individuals	Companies incorporated in Singapore, VariableCapital Companies	Companies, trusts, limited partnerships, and Variable CapitalCompanies
Fund’s Residence	Non-Singapore tax resident with no presence in Singapore	Must be Singapore tax resident	No restriction
Fund Manager	Must be based in Singapore and hold a Capital Markets Services (“CMS”) license unless exempted from holding a CMS license. A Single Family Office which carries on fund management activities solely for the family may apply to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) for exemption from holding a CMS license
Fund Administrator	In the context of a Singapore-based Family Office, this could be the accounting service provider
Investor	100% of the issued securities can be held by Singapore persons. Financial penalties apply to non-qualifying investors (i.e., Singapore non-individual investors exceeding prescribed thresholds)	No restrictions
Assets under management	No restriction	Minimum of SGD50M
Minimum Annual Business Spending	No restriction	Minimum of $200K
Minimum Number of Professional Employees	No restriction	3 experienced investment professionals earning at least S$3,500 per month (can be family members)
Approval Requirement from the Monetary Authority of Singapore	No approval required	Approval required. No change in investment strategy is allowed after approval
Tax Treatment	In general terms, tax exemption applies to specified income from designated investments, managed by the Singapore Family Office. Examples include dividends from offshore investments and interest from loans to non-residents

Family Office in Singapore

2 Types of Family Office in Singapore

Single Family Office (SFO)

Multi-Family Office (MFO)

Singapore Tax Incentive Schemes for Family Office’s Investment Fund

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