Secretary Hui Highlights Family Office Trends at Raffles Forum 2025, Emphasizing Hong Kong's Premier Position for Wealth Management

Speech by SFST at Raffles Family Office Annual Forum 2025

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, at the Raffles Family Office Annual Forum 2025 today (October 8):

Chi Man (Group Chief Executive Officer of Raffles Family Office, Mr Kwan Chi Man), Minister Murangwa (Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Rwanda, Mr Yusuf Murangwa), ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,

It is a profound honour to address you at the Raffles Family Office Annual Forum 2025. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the organiser for convening this distinguished gathering.

The theme of this year's forum, "The Decade Before, A Century Beyond," resonates deeply with the evolving mission of family offices: to preserve wealth, foster values, and also drive positive impact across generations.

Family offices are undergoing significant transformation, and I wish to share with you a few defining trends that we observed. Firstly, family offices are enhancing governance structures and also investment processes, formalising investment opportunities, adopting institutional-style governance to ensure efficiency and also clarity in decision-making, often separating operations from family offices.

Secondly, there is a growing focus on private markets, with family offices increasingly allocating capital to private equity, co-investments, and also direct investments in companies, moving away from purely passive public market investments and adopting fund structures to centralise asset management, achieve scale, and also facilitate succession planning.

And thirdly, driven by collaboration, especially at a global level, family mobility and diverse investment opportunities, family offices are expanding globally and also enhancing services with custom solutions, such as estate planning, insurance, technology adoption, and also collaboration with banks, insurers and wealth tax, to meet these evolving needs.

All these three trends that I mentioned, professional governance, diversification into private assets and also global operations sophistication, position family offices well to thrive in an era of rapid technological disruption, evolving economic paradigms, and also growing societal expectations. Hong Kong, as a global financial hub, is uniquely positioned to support this journey, offering a platform where bold ideas can flourish and also legacies can endure for generations to come.

The Government is steadfast in our commitment to positioning our city as the premier hub for family offices in Asia and beyond. Our unique advantages - a robust legal system, world-class financial infrastructure, strategic proximity to the Mainland, and a competitive and simple tax regime - make us an ideal destination for family offices, including those from Africa of course, seeking to establish or expand their operations. Through a multipronged approach, in collaboration with regulators and our industry stakeholders, we have implemented a comprehensive suite of policies to create a conducive and also competitive environment for global family offices.

A key pillar of our strategy is the profits tax exemption for family-owned investment holding vehicles managed by single family offices here in Hong Kong. This measure reduces the cost of operating here, enabling families to optimise their wealth management strategies and also focus on long-term growth and also legacy building. By alleviating tax constraints, we empower family offices to allocate resources strategically, aligning with their goals of intergenerational wealth preservation and also impact. We will also be expanding the qualifying investments for tax concessions to include private credit and other new asset classes, aligning with the new trend of sector I just highlighted.

Recognising the crucial role of talent and expertise, as highlighted by Chi Man just now, we established the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy two years ago under the Financial Services Development Council. This academy serves as a collaborative platform to network, share knowledge, and also to train specialised talent to family offices, asset owners, and wealth inheritors. The academy has recently celebrated its second anniversary and has delivered over 20 capacity-building events in collaboration with partners and thought leaders, engaging over 3 000 family asset owners and next-gen leaders in dialogues and also legacy planning. By fostering positive financial management values and also strengthening the talent pool, the academy supports the professionalisation of the sector, ensuring family offices have access to the expertise needed to thrive in a competitive landscape.

Another initiative that I would highlight is our New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (new CIES) further enriches our ecosystem by attracting high-net-worth individuals and their capital to Hong Kong. Eligible investors who make investments of HK$27 million or above in eligible assets and place HK$3 million into the new CIES Investment Portfolio, as managed by Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited, may reside and pursue development in Hong Kong. Recent enhancements demonstrate our responsiveness; from March this year, investments through wholly owned private companies counted towards the threshold, and net asset assessment and calculation requirements have also been relaxed. Moreover, the threshold of the transaction price of residential real estate is now reduced, while the aggregate cap for the total investment amount in real estate is also raised. These measures create synergies with our tax concession regime, encouraging more family offices to anchor in Hong Kong and contribute to our vibrant financial ecosystem.

Beyond fiscal and operational support, we are fostering Hong Kong as a global centre for philanthropy and cultural innovation. Initiatives include developing art storage facilities at our airport, which cater to the growing interest in luxury assets among family offices. In additional, we are promoting Hong Kong as a philanthropic hub, aligning with the aspirations of many family offices to drive positive social impact. These efforts resonate with the forum's theme of building legacies that extend beyond financial wealth, contributing to a better future for communities worldwide.

Our policies have delivered tangible results. We set a target to facilitate at least 200 family offices to establish or expand operations in Hong Kong by the end of 2025 - a goal we proudly achieved ahead of schedule in September this year. As announced in the latest Policy Address, we target to attract an additional 220 family offices to Hong Kong from the year of 2026 to the year of 2028, further enriching our market size.

Finally, the third Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit, our flagship event for family offices, was held in March this year under the theme "Hong Kong of the World, for the World". It convened family offices to discuss technology, artificial intelligence, philanthropy, and also cultural innovation, fostering collaborations to create a sustainable future. This summit underscores Hong Kong's role as a convener of global ideas and a catalyst for positive change, aligning with the aspirations of family offices to create a lasting impact. I am very glad to share that it will return once again next year.

Before I go, I would like to congratulate Chi Man for organising this event, and also choosing the right colour for the forum because it is in the same colour of the Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address. At the same time, as Chinese say, it takes 10 years to grow a tree but a hundred years to cultivate a talent, so I am sure it is just the start of a new journey and the use of a tree pattern here is very apt.

Again, the Raffles Family Office Annual Forum 2025 embodies the spirit of "The Decade Before, A Century Beyond." It challenges us to learn from the past, engage with the present, and build a future where family offices thrive as stewards of wealth and values. Hong Kong invites you to leverage our unparalleled advantages - robust policies, strategic location, and a dynamic financial ecosystem - to establish or expand your operations. Our comprehensive support, from tax exemptions to talent development, positions Hong Kong as the premier destination for family offices seeking to build legacies that endure. Together, let us weave the tapestry of the future, drawing from the lessons of the past decade to create a century of prosperity, impact, and responsibility.

Thank you.

Source: AI-found images

FEHD reviews this year's efforts to tackle dripping air conditioners

A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said today (November 10) that the department has continued to adopt a multipronged approach to tackle the problem of dripping air conditioners, combining enhanced inspections and enforcement with publicity and education, innovative technology and adjustments to operational strategies. This year, the FEHD has fully deployed the third-generation Air-conditioning Water Dripping Inspection System, featuring infrared night-vision technology and artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition, across all districts to detect dripping locations quickly and accurately, significantly enhancing enforcement effectiveness.

The spokesman said, "As of September 30, the FEHD had issued about 8 100 nuisance notices concerning dripping air conditioners this year, representing an increase of about 16 per cent and 54 per cent over the corresponding periods last year and in 2024 respectively. The figure was about four times that for the same period in 2023. Over 99 per cent of the households that received the notices have addressed the dripping problem as required. Significant improvements have also been recorded at the locations of concern identified by the department."

In recent years, the FEHD has adopted a new operational strategy. In addition to handling public complaints, officers proactively conduct door-to-door inspections and take enforcement action, focusing on around 300 locations of concern with more serious dripping problems across districts, including bus stops, minibus stops and pedestrian passages. Each location is inspected at least once a week. By August, dripping problems at about half of these locations had been resolved or had shown significant improvement. As conditions improved at some locations, the FEHD extended its operations to more than 110 additional locations with less serious problems. As of September 30, the number of locations being followed up by the FEHD had increased from around 300 to more than 400.

The FEHD has also actively applied innovative technology, collaborating with a local innovation and technology institution to develop the Air-conditioning Water Dripping Inspection System. Using infrared night-vision technology, the system enables officers to detect dripping locations quickly in low-light conditions without entering residents' premises. The enhanced second-generation system features a remote-controlled pan-tilt head and autofocus functions. Its detection range has been extended to 120 metres, enabling it to cover buildings around 40 storeys high. In April this year, the system won a bronze award in thecategory of Engineering and Robotics – Optical Sensing and Spatial Intelligence at the Edison Awards 2026, gaining international recognition for its innovative technology. This year, the department has fully deployed the third-generation system, featuring AI image recognition, across all districts. The system uses high-precision image recognition to detect dripping locations automatically and pinpoint their sources quickly and accurately, further reducing the time required for observation and evidence collection.

In addition to strengthening enforcement, the FEHD actively collaborates with the property management sector to tackle dripping air conditioners. The department continues to promote the Scheme of Participation by Property Management Agents in Tackling Dripping Air-conditioners, inviting staff of property management companies serving private housing estates to help identify dripping sources and advise residents to rectify the problem. More than 300 private housing estates across the territory currently participate in the scheme, helping to complete follow-up and handling of an average of over 4 000 dripping complaints each year. The department also works closely with the Property Management Services Authority to provide relevant guidelines for licensed property management companies and property management personnel, and encourages more licensed companies to join the scheme.

The FEHD calls on all sectors to work together to tackle dripping air conditioners. Property management companies should regularly repair and maintain building drainage systems and remind residents to inspect and repair their air conditioners. Members of the public should also inspect and maintain their air conditioners regularly and address any dripping problems promptly to avoid causing a nuisance. For more information, please refer to the leaflet on the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pleasant_environment/library/aircon/Pamphlet_water_dripping_from_air_conditioner.pdf).

Source: AI-found images