The Practice of Private Wealth Management in Singapore

Singapore is currently one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita. According to Forbes magazine, the combined net worth of the top forty wealthiest Singaporeans in 2010 was S$60 billion1, up from S$51 billion in 2009, and common sources of wealth for these individuals included Financial Services (OCBC, OUB) and Real Estate (Far East Organization, Pontiac Land). As such, there is no doubt that there are a substantial number of wealthy Singaporeans who reside in Singapore. However, the combined amount of assets that these Singaporeans hold pales in comparison to the over S$1.3 trillion2 worth of assets currently managed by Singapore‟s asset management industry - a statistic that bears witness to Singapore‟s growing popularity as a wealth management hub among wealthy individuals from around the Asia Pacific region. Given this, this paper notes a distinction between the wealth that is flowing into the country through wealthy individuals, which includes both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans, and the wealth generated by Singaporeans. This paper seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the former group, which mostly includes Asian investors, through a small-scale research study.