Singapore

SingaporeUSD15.82 trillion. Asia Pacific isexpected to surpass NorthAmerica in wealth terms this year.Much of the region’s growth isdriven by wealth generation inGreater China, a term used to referto China, Hong Kong, Macau, andTaiwan as a unity, while Singaporemust compete with Hong Kong tomanage the fortunes of anemerging Asia Pacific middleclass. But while proximity to Chinamay play to the latter’s advantage,Singapore’s private wealth industryfinds itself abundantly employedby high net worth families inSoutheast Asia, coming out ofIndonesia, Thailand, Malaysia,Vietnam, India and beyond.Fernando Gandioli is a partneradvising on international tax andestate planning at the law firmWithers in Singapore. He says:“Singapore is certainly emergingas the centre of expertise, andgarnering significant prominencein the field. Mainland China seemsto be looking beyond Hong Kongand into Singapore as a placeto manage its wealth, and the restof Asia is also looking beyondChina as a place for wealthmanagement.”Not only is the region’s wealthypopulation growing rapidly, butthere is also a generational shiftoccurring that means firstgenerationbusiness foundersacross Asia Pacific are starting topass newly-made fortunes on totheir children. Often that requiressome complex structuring andsuccession planning, pushingfamilies to use professionaloffshore advisers for the first time.Dawn Quek, partner at Baker &McKenzie Wong & Leow and headof the wealth managementpractice in Singapore, says: “Weare seeing just huge growth inAsian wealth, particularly inSoutheast Asia, and a transfer ofwealth from one generation to thenext. While there wasn’t a strongdemand for private client lawyerseight years ago, now a privateclient lawyer needs to be veryversatile, advising not just onoffshore trusts, but being a trustedadviser capable of developingholistic estate plans that deal withfamilies’ onshore assets, andnavigating the tax, legal andregulatory regimes where theassets and family members arelocated.”Chris Burton is the new managingdirector at Vistra, the trusts andcorporate services provider, inSingapore, having recentlyrelocated from Jersey. He says:“The big macro factor in Asia isjust the amount of wealth built upin the last thirty to forty years, andthe fact that that’s going to have topass on to the next generation,which makes trusts the perfectsuccession and wealth planningtool, particularly where there arecomplex assets. The main focusfor us is Indonesia, where we areoperating the most, and that’s amassively growing economy with alot of high net worth people there.”Another significant driver of activityis the advent of global regulatorychange, as fiscal authoritiesbecome much more focused ontransparency in a bid to recovertax receipts.Quek says: “The push towardsglobal tax transparency, throughFatca and the Common ReportingStandard is driving a lot ofconsciousness among familiesthat they need to plan. Maybe tenyears ago in this region there wasmore of a culture of parking fundsin a safe haven with privacy as theprimary concern, and familieswere not worried about gettingadvice. Now, because there’s anincreased global focus ontransparency and clients have toget tax advice, they have to put“Mainland Chinaseems to be lookingbeyond Hong Kongand into Singapore asa place to manage itswealth.”Fernando Gandioli,Partner, WhitersChris Burton, Managing Director, VistraCitywealthmag.com Citywealth magazine, July 2015 • 12