This news service prides itself on its coverage of external asset managers, family offices and independent wealth firms in Singapore and the wider region. Matters ranging from compliance through to the impact of new technology keep this sector busy.

The Singapore-based market for independent wealth firms – often called external asset managers – has surged in recent years, even though global market turmoil might have encouraged caution. New players are pushing services into the market and giving established bank custodians a run for their money.

In recent weeks, this news service has talked to dozens of banks, wealth management platforms, EAMs and industry association figures about the forces shaping EAMs and what the future may bring. What is clear – as will be shown in several interviews in coming days – is that this is a remarkably varied sector. As second- and third-generation wealth holders rise to prominence, and transactional approaches to handling money give way to more fiduciary models, the shape of the sector will change. 

EAMs and the firms that serve them must also contend with compliance pressures. The need for tight anti-money laundering controls is a hot topic. Slow onboarding times came up as a cause of irritation in several of the interviews we conducted. 

HNW and UHNW clients' desire for conflict-free advice, independence and agility keeps this sector bubbling. The Asian EAM industry is diverse, with some operating as traditional discretionary asset managers across various asset classes, some concentrating on very specific alternatives such as private equity, and others operating as a platform business model.

There is a bewildering variety of names to conjure with, covering EAMs and multi-family offices, for example, such as Mindful Wealth; Lumen Capital; Azimut; Fargo Wealth Group; Annum Capital; TriLake; Efinity; Wealth Management Alliance; Blackthorn Wealth Management; Eightstone; Farro Capital; Crossinvest (Asia); Sunline Wealth Management; AITi Tiedmann Global; Taurus Wealth Advisors; SingAlliance; and Carret Private Capital.

Others in the mix include HP Wealth Management; Leo Wealth; Lighthouse Canton; Lyra Capital; Marcuard Heritage (Singapore); Mindful Wealth; Paces Capital Management; Pinnacle Capital Asia; Prudence Asset Management; Red Beacon; Sofos Capital Management; and Straits Invest. Names that also feature include Abacus, Conduit, Covenant, Eurofin, and Kamet Capital. It is a busy field.

Some of the firms are now becoming quite mature – no longer the “new kids on the block.” HP Wealth Management, for example, was established around the time of the global financial crisis of 2009 (it launched a family office business in 2013). The date is perhaps no coincidence – wealthy clients, traumatised by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown in the US and the fallout, were in the mood to start afresh with the way they managed their money.

These firms have a piece of a large pie. As the Monetary Authority of Singapore put it in its 2023 asset management survey, “Singapore serves [as] a key gateway for global asset managers and investors to tap the region’s growth opportunities, with 77 per cent of AuM sourced from outside Singapore, and 89 per cent of total AuM invested outside the country.” 

Total AuM, the MAS said, stood at S$5.4 trillion ($4.01 trillion) in Singapore in 2023. Discretionary assets accounted for more than half of that total figure. Not all that money will be held by EAMs, of course, but the figure suggests what a large field this now is. The number of licensed and registered fund management companies in Singapore increased from 1,194 as at December 2022 to 1,250 as at December 2023.

A big growth area for EAMs, and multi-family offices in Singapore has been that of the Variable Capital Company (VCC), with legislation taking effect in 2020 and spawning rapid growth. As of 31 December 2023, 1,029 VCCs were incorporated or re-domiciled in Singapore for various use cases and fund strategies. These umbrella or standalone VCCs, representing 2,158 sub-funds, were managed by 565 regulated fund management companies. The MAS has been looking at ways of making VCCs more attractive to single-family offices in a bid to bolster the jurisdiction’s competitive edge as a wealth hub.

As the sector has developed, there are now industry groups to give firms a voice and a chance to swap ideas and interact with policymakers. One such example is the Association of Independent Wealth Managers Singapore, which has more than 80 active member firms spanning players such as EAMs, banks, service providers and family offices. WealthBriefingAsia recently spoke to its president, Jolene Tan, who is also co-founder of SingAlliance Pte Ltd. (See this interview with Tan in 2024.)

Several international and local banks are “beefing up” their EAM service arms, Tan said in a call. Swiss banks continue to strengthen their presence in the space. Bank of Singapore, to take a domestic example, is also “very committed” to EAMs and is investing significantly in digital solutions and infrastructure, Tan said. Liechtenstein-headquartered LGT, is another example of a bank that has committed to the EAM space. Other banks including VP Bank and BNP Paribas, are active. 

And notably in the custody area, non-traditional banking models are gaining traction, Tan said. Examples include SAXO, Swissquote and Sygtnum, Tiger Brokers, Moomoo, Interactive Brokers and Vontobel. However, some banks, such as HSBC and JP Morgan, have closed their EAM desks. (This publication has spoken to lenders such as Northern Trust, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank and Lombard Odier about the work they do with EAMs. This is a varied space.)

As has been seen in the Swiss EAM market, since the advent of new regulations firms have been consolidating, particularly given increasing cost pressures. Singapore, like Switzerland, is not a cheap place in which to operate; firms need to consider operating models, and work out what can and cannot be outsourced. What is clear – and this news service is preparing for its EAM awards programme later in the year in Singapore – is that the EAM industry remains a hotspot within the global wealth management field.

(Editor's note: This news service intends to continue engaging closely with this market. We have been tracking and researching the EAM sector for some time. See a research report from 2016. If you wish to comment on issues affecting EAMs and family offices in Singapore and the wider region, please contact the editor at tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com.)