Govt to exceed family office target: treasury chief

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui said on Monday he is confident that the government will be able to beat the target of bringing in over 200 large family offices by the end of the year.

The goal was set by Chief Executive John Lee in his Policy Address in 2022 as part of measures to cement the city’s status as a global wealth management hub by attracting investment and capital.

Speaking in an interview with a local newspaper, Hui noted that the government’s investment promotion arm, InvestHK, has already assisted more than 160 family offices in setting up shop or expanding in the SAR and that another 150 are planning to follow suit.

While over 80 percent of the new family offices are from across the strait, others are from the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Oceania, he added, noting that the total number of new family offices could be much higher than the government data as some might have set up shop via other agencies.

Hui also noted that the authorities plan to turn the upcoming “Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit” into an annual flagship event as one fourth of the family offices that had set up here had done so partly due to the event.

The third edition of the event is set to take place on Wednesday.

So far, more than 2,700 single family offices have chosen Hong Kong as their base.

Looking ahead, Hui noted that there are opportunities for growth in the city’s family office business as global investors might “prioritise stability” amid the uncertain policy environment in the United States. He described the city as the “magic cudgel” providing a stable, sustainable and predictable business environment.

He also said the government has introduced a bill to the Legislative Council to set up a “company relocation mechanism” to assist businesses in their relocations and that the legislative process of the bill could be completed in the first half.