Singapore Bolsters Its Position As Cross-Border Wealth Hub – PwC

The report comes at a time when the Asian city-state, along
with its principal rival, Hong Kong, have sought to attract
wealth managers, banks and family offices as important parts of
their economies. The jurisdictions also benefit from a broader
rise in the size of Asia’s affluent and HNW population in
recent decades. 

According
to the Capgemini Research Institute in May, Asia-Pacific posted
the highest regional growth in wealth of 10.5 per cent and
population growth of 9.4 per cent, as semiconductor demand
boosted Asian stock markets. Japan and China were among the
strongest performers, adding 436,000 and 154,000 millionaires,
respectively. India and Australia also saw growth, with HNWI
populations increasing by 11,300 and 18,100,
respectively. In a separate wealth management report, Boston
Consulting Group in late May
reported that Singapore is the world’s third-largest
cross-border wealth centre, home to $2.1 trillion of such wealth,
and slated to grow in this regard by 9 per cent from 2025 to
2030. Hong Kong and Switzerland are equal-first, with the former
due to overtake the Alpine state in coming years.

PwC highlights five structural strengths underpinning
Singapore’s position as the strategic asset and wealth management
hub in the region: its scale as one of APAC’s two largest
international investment hubs, $4.6 trillion in managed
AuM; its growing role as a destination for regional high net
worth wealth, its standing as the second-largest Asia-Pacific
sovereign wealth hub by share of global sovereign wealth fund
(SWF) assets; its leadership in WealthTech and digital
distribution; and its emergence as a testbed for tokenized
fund structures.

Singapore

Eight per cent compound annual growth rate is
forecast for Singapore’s AuM between now and 2030, compared
with the region’s 6.8 per cent CAGR forecast overall, making
Singapore one of the highest growth markets in APAC. $4.6
trillion managed AuM in Singapore, makes it one of
Asia-Pacific’s two largest international investment hubs. Eight
per cent of global SWF assets – the second-largest
Asia-Pacific sovereign wealth hub.

A sovereign wealth and HNW hub

Singapore continues to attract regional capital. The report
states that the city-state hosts 8 per cent of global sovereign
wealth fund assets, making it the second-largest Asia-Pacific SWF
hub, while also reinforcing its role as a destination for HNW
wealth from across the region. Asia-Pacific HNW assets are
predicted to reach $52.4 trillion by 2030 (6.9 per cent CAGR) –
the standout driver of regional client asset growth – much of
which is expected to flow through Singapore’s wealth platforms.

Capital, however, is only part of the story. Asia-Pacific SWFs
collectively hold $5.2 trillion in investable wealth and around
28 per cent is allocatedf to alternatives, compared with 34 per
cent in North America. The gap is more pronounced for
APAC pension funds, which allocate 8 per cent to
alternatives versus 37 per cent in North America, pointing to
headroom for further growth in private markets allocations as
regional pools mature.

Government-led reforms

That momentum is being reinforced by policy, PwC continued. The
report points to a series of Singapore initiatives to deepen
capital markets, including the Equity Market Development
Programme, expanded from S$5 billion ($3.89 billion) to S$6.5
billion at budget 2026, with S$3.95 billion allocated to nine
asset managers, alongside a S$1.5 billion top-up to the Financial
Sector Development Fund, and the new S$3 billion Anchor Fund.

Adding to this momentum, a new Central Provident Fund (CPF)
life-cycle investment scheme – announced at budget 2026 and
set for launch in 2028 – could channel up to S$9 billion
annually into Singapore equities, providing a steady liquidity
pipeline and deepening the city-state’s capital markets.

The report also highlights MAS’s proposed Long-term Investment
Fund framework as a potential route for broadening retail
access to private markets – covering private equity, private
credit, and infrastructure. The backdrop is compelling: private
markets have risen from 20.3 per cent of Asia-Pacific AWM
revenues in 2012 to 55.4 per cent in 2024 and are projected to
rise to 59.5 per cent ($99.8 billion) by 2030.

Singapore’s WealthTech ecosystem is one of the most developed in
Asia-Pacific, with home-grown digital investment platforms
reshaping the way retail and HNW clients access wealth
services, the firm said. With 77 per cent of Asia Pacific AWM
organisations citing technology and digital disruption as the
leading megatrend reshaping the industry, Singapore’s digital
infrastructure is positioning the city-state as a model that is
now being replicated across the region. 

A test for tokenization

Singapore is also moving quickly on digital assets. The report
states that the city-state is taking tokenization from pilot to
commercial deployment. Together with Singapore’s VCC framework
and its network of double tax agreements spanning more than 80
countries, these capabilities reinforce Singapore as a viable
platform for cross-border, multi-strategy APAC mandates, the
firm said.

Six imperatives, four winning archetypes

Against a backdrop of profit pressure – felt by 95 per cent
of Asia-Pacific AWM organisations over the past five years, with
44 per cent describing it as high – managers need to make sharper
choices, the firm continued. To capture the opportunity, the
report sets out six priorities for managers: getting ahead of the
wealth and pensions opportunity, leading the reallocation to
alternatives, connecting with digital-first investors, harnessing
regional innovation, turning regulatory complexity into
competitive advantage, and choosing a clear path to growth.

It also identifies four archetypes of firms most likely to
succeed by 2030 – hypermarkets with end-to-end scale,
solutions platforms built around outcomes, ultra-efficient
manufacturers competing on cost and operational excellence, and
niche champions with deep specialist capability. The most viable
models in Asia-Pacific, the report concludes, are likely to be
the solutions platform and niche champion archetypes, given the
region’s structural diversity.