Hong Kong's Wealth Management Comeback: How the City Beat Singapore at Its Own Game

A recent Bloomberg interview has dropped some serious insights about a major shift in Asia's wealth landscape. While Chinese companies are flooding back to Hong Kong for IPOs this year, it's not just the capital markets that are heating up – the city's wealth management sector is absolutely crushing it, and mainland China's rich are taking notice of what might just be the ultimate financial comeback story.

The Great Wealth Migration

Arnaud Tellier, the big guy at BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, just spilled the beans on something that would make Singapore's financial elite sweat a bit. During the pandemic, virtually every penny of offshore wealth from mainland China was rushing to Singapore like tourists to a duty-free shop. But by 2024, that whole dynamic flipped on its head.

Now we're seeing roughly 60% of mainland wealth heading to Hong Kong when it goes offshore, while Singapore's slice of the pie has shrunk to about 40%. That's not just a shift – that's a complete reversal of fortune that nobody saw coming during those lockdown days when Singapore seemed untouchable.

Arnaud Tellier, CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, is from France.

This turnaround has been a goldmine for BNP Paribas. Their Asian wealth management assets have surged by 20% over the past year and a half, jumping from $80 billion to a hefty $105 billion. We're talking about $8 billion in net new money this year alone, which isn't too shabby compared to last year's $9 billion haul.

Tellier's team has been busy too – they've snapped up 20 new bankers this year, including poaching a six-person team from China Merchants Bank International. The recruitment drive continues, though he's keeping the exact numbers close to his chest.

Singapore's Self-Inflicted Wounds

Singapore didn't just lose this race; they practically handed Hong Kong the victory on a silver platter. Remember that absolutely massive money laundering scandal that rocked Singapore last year? We're talking about a jaw-dropping S$3 billion (equivalent to HK$18.4 billion) mess that had regulators going nuclear on nine financial institutions.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore didn't mess around, slapping fines totaling S$27.45 million (equivalent to HK$168 million) across the board – the second-highest penalty in their history. Big names like Credit Suisse (before UBS gobbled them up) and United Overseas Bank got hammered. When your reputation as a "safe wealth haven" takes that kind of hit, money has a way of finding somewhere else to park itself.

Policy Wars and Projections

Hong Kong's government hasn't been sitting around waiting for luck to strike. They've been rolling out tax incentives and talent schemes like they're going out of fashion, all aimed at rebuilding the city's status as Asia's private wealth playground.

The numbers being thrown around are pretty ambitious. Bloomberg Intelligence reckons Hong Kong's private wealth management assets could hit US$2.3 trillion by 2030 – potentially overtaking Switzerland to become the world's biggest cross-border wealth center. But here's where it gets interesting: Hong Kong's own Investment Promotion Agency is even more bullish, claiming they'll hit the top spot by 2027.

That's the kind of confidence you don't see every day, and frankly, given what we're witnessing with capital flows, it might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.

Why Neutrality Pays Off

For wealthy clients looking for stability and reliability without the political baggage, that neutrality factor is pure gold. While American and Chinese institutions are busy navigating geopolitical minefields, European players like BNP Paribas can focus on what they do best – managing money without the political theater.

Mainland capital is voting with its feet, and Hong Kong is winning that vote. Between Singapore's regulatory headaches, Hong Kong's policy push, and the simple geography of being right next door to the world's second-largest economy, this shift feels less like a temporary blip and more like a fundamental realignment of Asia's wealth management landscape.

Ariel

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Jimmy Lai’s latest courtroom moment comes with a blunt reality check: the “solitary confinement” narrative doesn’t look the way overseas headlines sell it. At the West Kowloon Court on Monday (Jan 12), prosecutors say Lai requested the arrangement himself—worried he’d be harassed because his case was so widely reported—and the Correctional Services Department approved it after assessment. Two judges put it in plain language: “This wasn’t imposed on him by others—it was his own request,” and “If he wants, he can stop at any time.”

Prosecutors tell the court Lai’s solitary confinement is his own choice, not something forced on him. AP file photo.

That clashes head-on with what Lai’s children tell foreign media: they describe an elderly father kept alone for more than 1,000 days in a cell “without sunlight,” with summer temperatures hitting 40℃, dramatic weight loss, weakness, discolored nails “falling off,” and rotting teeth—basically a countdown to the end. They also accuse correctional staff of blocking communion for the Catholic Lai, or even cutting off curry sauce once they learned he liked it—small details used to paint a picture of psychological breaking tactics.

In court, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Chau tells a very different story: solitary confinement starts with Lai’s own application. Chau says that when Lai is remanded in late 2020, he believes his case is splashed everywhere and fears trouble from other inmates, so he applies to the Correctional Services Department. The department’s report, Chau says, finds him suitable—and it reviews the arrangment monthly, asking each time whether Lai wants to continue, with Lai confirming he does.

Chau also stresses that “solitary” doesn’t mean stripped of prisoner rights under the Prison Rules. He says Lai still has social contact—family communication, letters, publications—and can take part in religious activities such as receiving communion, and that Lai has never filed a complaint about these matters. Chau adds that Lai’s daily routine includes reading, outdoor exercise, “meaningful light duty work,” and daily health monitoring.

The courtroom reality check

The defense tries to shift the focus to age and health. Senior counsel Robert Pang tells the court Lai has high blood pressure, diabetes, and eye problems; none are immediately life-threatening, he says, but at 78, solitary confinement hits harder than it would for a younger inmate. Pang frames it starkly: “Every day he spent in prison will bring him that much closer to the end of his life,” and he cites a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture report warning solitary confinement harms prisoners and is treated as punishment in prison systems.

Judge Esther Toh isn't buying the "imposed punishment" framing, and she says so on the spot. She points out that this arrangement wasn't imposed on him by others—it was his own request, then offers a pointed analogy: it's like choosing between sharing a double room with your wife or taking a single room, picking one option, and then calling it "torture." Another judge, Alex Lee, makes the practical point: "It's not an additional punishment imposed on him. He can always end it if he chooses to."

Commentary circulating among observers says those two lines from the bench puncture the overseas media storyline in one go: the claim that Lai is forcibly kept in solitary. The same commentary says Lai’s family and foreign media keep running the “sob story,” while court appearances and medical reports tendered in evidence show his health is broadly fine—and that during remand he even gains weight at one point, with fluctuations that still leave him in an obese BMI range, not the “frail and wasting” picture described abroad.