‘Hong Kong is where visions grow,’ John Lee tells family office investors Hong Kong is not only a place for family offices to invest, but also a partner in their journey that can last and where they can anchor their legacy, the city’s leader said at a Post event, as he pledged to roll out more incentives to attract more operators. Speaking at the South China Morning Post’s Family Business Summit 2025 on Friday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that his administration had a “clear ambition” to attract at least 220 more family offices to the city over the next three years, describing the target as “no easy feat”. “To all family principals considering where to anchor your legacy, I have a simple message: Hong Kong is the place where your family’s vision can grow boundlessly,” Lee said. “This city offers not just a place to invest, but a partner in your family’s enduring journey.” His remarks followed new measures announced in the city’s budget blueprint earlier this year, in which the government said it would enhance the preferential tax regime for single-family offices. These include expanding the types of qualifying transactions eligible for tax concessions, such as those involving emission derivatives or allowances, insurance-linked securities, loans, private credit investments and digital assets. “We will build a resilient and conducive ecosystem for family offices,” Lee said during the closed-door event held at the Rosewood Hotel. The summit, now in its third year, was co-curated by the Post and Blue Pool Capital and presented by UBS, featuring speakers ranging from government officials to representatives from Wall Street and the NBA. Lee thanked the Post for hosting the event again, noting that it created a valuable networking opportunity for all. Over nearly 50 minutes, he fielded a comprehensive list of questions, including on his overseas trips, the wealth gap and social safety nets and the city’s future plans. Having just returned from attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Leaders’ meeting in Gyeongju in South Korea, Lee said he could sense greater acceptance of China’s growing leadership by more countries compared with the past, including those that had previously looked in the opposite direction. Lee also sounded an upbeat note on the developments in the Northern Metropolis in Hong Kong, which is to become a hub for industries such as technology, life and health sciences and advanced manufacturing. In his opening remarks, Lee said Hong Kong was now home to more than 2,700 family offices, ahead of the schedule he set in his 2022 policy address. He added that InvestHK, the city’s designated investment promotion agency, had facilitated the establishment and expansion of more than 200 family offices over the past three years. “This reflects the city’s growing appeal to the world’s affluent families. And through enhancing the preferential tax regimes for funds, single-family offices and carried interest, we will attract more funds to establish a presence in Hong Kong,” he said. The government would also continue to organise the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit, a flagship annual event for family offices, to showcase the city’s role in empowering global wealth for the benefit of all, he noted. Lee said various reports had assessed that Hong Kong could become the world’s largest cross-boundary wealth management centre within the next two to three years, as total assets under management in the city reached US$4.5 trillion, up 13 per cent year on year. He also said that Hong Kong was home to more than 17,200 ultra-high-net-worth individuals, as of June 2025, the highest number among Asian cities, he said. Those individuals refer to people who possess investible assets in excess of US$30 million. “I’m glad to note that the hotel we are currently in has been ranked No 1 in this year’s World’s 50 Best Hotels list. Just across the harbour, two bars in Central were also included in the World’s 50 Best Bars this year, with one claiming the top spot,” Lee said. The conference, curated to discuss some of the biggest questions confronting investors and business owners, covered a wide range of topics, from the state of the global economy and the evolving world order to regional dynamics in Europe and Asia and sports and artificial intelligence. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3331888/hong-kong-where-visions-grow-john-lee-tells-family-office-investors (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post