Singapore is targeting family offices as a source of clients; it has been reported that policymakers may adjust its new variable capital company structures to encourage more take-up from SFOs. The latest report said that Google co-founder Sergei Brin's Bayshore organization had opened a Singapore office.

The family office of Google co-founder Sergey Brin is establishing a branch in Singapore, an example of such entities tapping the fast-growing Southeast Asia region, a report said. 

Bayshore Global Management, the California-based firm that serves Brin, established an office in Singapore late last year, according to documents filed with the corporate regulator, according to Bloomberg. Deputy chief investment officer Marie Young was appointed as a director of the unit, the report said. 

Brin isn’t the only Google founder to have built foreign connections to handle wealth. As reported last year, former Google chief executive and multi-billionaire Eric Schmidt and his family acquired Cypriot citizenship. Schmidt was CEO of the tech giant from 2001 to 2011. He became executive chairman of Google and then Alphabet until 2018. His personal fortune stands at around $19.2 billion.

The news service report said that Brin is the world's ninth richest person, with a net worth of $86.5 billion (S$115 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Singapore is attractive to such organizations because of its relatively low taxes, stable legal system and political stability, as well as its standing as a tech-friendly wealth hub. And family offices are increasingly targeted as a source of client. Last December, it was reported that Singapore policymakers may adjust how variable capital company (VCC) structures operate to encourage more take-up from single family offices, an important growth area in Asia. The Asian city-state introduced VCC structures a year ago.

Bayshore's Singapore filings show that its primary activity will be family office related. The office’s Singapore unit is held through a holding company named Parachute Capital (SGP). The report said representatives of Alphabet and Bayshore did not immediately reply to requests for comment. 

The story underlines how Singapore is pushing to be the premier wealth management centre in Asia, coming at a time when the image of rival Hong Kong has been hit by mainland China’s imposition of a new national security law on the jurisdiction last year, following political protests.