Record wealth, contested control

Global HNWI wealth reached $98.3 trillion in 2025, a record, yet only 17% of clients describe their advisory experience as seamless. In APAC, Lombard Odier research across nine markets finds fewer than one in six older-generation family members are confident the next generation can manage what they will inherit. In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has assembled 21 institutions to build the policy framework for tokenised bonds, while a commercial tokenisation partnership has begun constructing the distribution infrastructure beneath it. In Singapore, a mass-affluent wealth platform has secured its Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) licence, and PGIM has opened institutional private credit to Asian wealth investors for the first time. Independent premium finance is now available to HNW clients outside private banking relationships. Asian family offices now have a practical guide for technology private market investing.

Read more on the week’s key developments:

Global HNWI population hits 25 million in 2025

The HNWI population reached 25.3 million in 2025, adding nearly two million in a single year, while combined wealth rose 8.7% to $98.3 trillion, the largest annual gain since 2018. APAC led all regions, with HNWI wealth up 10.5% and population up 9.4%. The United States added 736,000 new HNWIs, more than any other country, bringing its total to 8.7 million. The ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) segment grew faster still: population up 9.4%, wealth up 9.7%.

According to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2026, only 17% of HNWIs describe their advisory experience as seamless and personalised. Advisors spend 41% of their time on compliance rather than client work, and 76% want artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled automation to address this. The gap between wealth creation and advisory quality is widening, and clients increasingly have the means to act on it.

Global MFO assets top $5.2 trillion

Global multi-family office (MFO) assets under management (AUM) have surpassed $5.2 trillion across 1,632 offices, equivalent to 8% of total global pension assets, according to the With Intelligence Multi-Family Office Asset Pools 2026 Report. North America holds 35% of MFOs and 57% of AUM. New office formation is fastest in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, driven by first-generation wealth creation in technology, agribusiness and energy.

MFOs have grown to a scale that collectively approaches sovereign wealth funds. The geographic shift in new formation reflects UHNWI wealth being created outside traditional private banking centres. Institutions with existing distribution relationships in these markets are well positioned to compete for the resulting advisory mandates.

PGIM brings private credit to Asia wealth channel

PGIM, the $1.4 trillion asset management arm of Prudential Financial, launched the PGIM Global Private Credit Fund SCA on 2 June, a Luxembourg vehicle for wealth investors in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. The fund targets senior secured loans to middle-market companies with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $10 million to $75 million across North America, Europe and Australia. Qualified investors in Hong Kong and Singapore can access it on a private placement basis.

PGIM is bringing more than two decades of institutional direct lending, $100 billion in private credit AUM serving pension funds and endowments, to the wealth channel for the first time. The fund's focus on non-sponsored loans originated directly from privately held companies gives wealth investors access to a segment historically reserved for institutional allocators.

Middle East HNWI population contracts amid oil shock

The Middle East was the only major region where the HNWI population declined in 2025, contracting 1.4%, as lower oil prices and regional conflict weakened Gulf Cooperation Council economies. Global HNWI population grew 7.9% and wealth 8.7% over the same period.

The contraction is accelerating a structural shift in how Gulf wealth is held. Families are increasingly routing assets through offshore centres, the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Abu Dhabi Global Market, in search of legal certainty and cross-border flexibility. For private banks with Gulf franchises, the environment suggests a shift from client acquisition toward mandate consolidation, with offshore structuring capability becoming an increasingly important differentiator.

APAC families face wealth succession gap

Lombard Odier surveyed more than 390 HNWIs across nine APAC markets, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines, and found a sharp gap between stated and actual succession readiness. Only 16.7% of older-generation family members report strong confidence in the next generation's ability to manage family wealth, while 42.9% of Gen Z heirs say they lack confidence in their own readiness. The research was conducted with IMD Business School.

The advisory dividend is clear: nearly nine in ten families with professional succession advice have achieved family alignment, compared with just over half of unadvised families. The report estimates $5.8 trillion in APAC family wealth will transfer over the next two decades, making succession advisory an increasingly significant revenue line for those able to close the gap.

New guide maps Asian family office tech investing

Annum Capital, Deane Consulting and Turoid published "Early Bird: A Practical Guide for Asian Family Offices Investing in Technology Through Private Markets" on 7 June, the first guide aimed specifically at APAC family offices as technology private market investors. The report maps investable themes within the private AI stack, surveys access routes through funds and co-investments, and provides a due diligence framework.

Asian family offices have historically been crowded out of technology private markets by large institutional allocators. As AI infrastructure investment has grown, competition for allocations in high-quality private technology rounds has intensified. The guide equips APAC investment teams with a practical framework to compete and points to an advisory gap that private markets platforms serving Asian wealth clients have not yet filled.

HKMA forms 21-institution tokenised bond group

The HKMA established a Tokenised Bond Expert Group on 5 June, comprising 21 institutions including HSBC, Standard Chartered, JPMorgan, Bank of China (Hong Kong), law firms A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance and Linklaters, and digital asset firms Ant Digital Technologies and HashKey Group. The group will advise on policy, market practice and legal frameworks for tokenised bond issuance, building on three Hong Kong Government tokenised bond issuances since 2023.

Hong Kong is seeking to establish itself as a leading standard-setter for institutional tokenised fixed income. For wealth managers with fixed income mandates, this is a market structure development with direct implications for how bonds are issued, settled and distributed. The policy architecture is now taking shape; timelines for commercial deployment will depend on the pace of regulatory and legal reform.

Asia builds commercial rails for tokenised wealth products

Eddid Securities and Futures, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Eddid Financial, signed a strategic partnership with Asseto Fintech on 1 June to build commercial tokenisation infrastructure for wealth distribution. Asseto provides end-to-end full-stack tokenisation delivery; Eddid contributes market infrastructure and a client distribution network. The partnership will provide liquidity services for tokenised assets, including HKMA-regulated stablecoin scenarios, and distribute tokenised financial products via application programming interface and offline channels across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East.

The HKMA is building the regulatory and policy architecture for tokenised bonds through its 21-institution Expert Group. Eddid and Asseto are constructing the commercial distribution infrastructure in parallel. For private banks and family offices tracking when tokenised products will reach the wealth channel, this signals the delivery layer is already being built. The wealth channel implications, regulated access to tokenised bonds, private funds and alternative assets, are beginning to move from theoretical to operational.

Arki Finance secures MAS licence in Singapore

Singapore-based Arki Finance received its Capital Markets Services licence from MAS on 8 June, ahead of its planned public launch later in 2026. The company is building a full-stack wealth platform for the mass-affluent segment, structured around a cash, income and growth framework. Its advisory board includes Gerard Lee, former chief executive of Lion Global Investors, Rimmo Jolly, former APAC head of iShares at BlackRock, and Justin Xiao, formerly of Visa and Railsr.

Singapore's mass-affluent segment, households too wealthy for standard retail products but below private banking thresholds, is one of Southeast Asia's most underserved client groups. The advisory board's depth suggests meaningful institutional backing for the platform. Product launches are expected later in 2026.

Independent premium finance decouples from private banking

Yuvarra, a licensed independent lender incorporated in the Cayman Islands with Hong Kong operations, launched in June 2026, offering life insurance premium financing to HNW clients, independent advisors and wealth managers across Asia. Built in partnership with LifeDirect, part of AFCO Credit Corporation, a Truist Bank subsidiary, Yuvarra's loans are secured against the insurance policy itself, not the client's investment portfolio. There are no AUM minimums, no account-opening requirements, and applications are reviewed within weeks.

Premium finance has traditionally been bundled with private banking AUM and relationship requirements, giving banks a structural advantage. Yuvarra removes the private banking relationship as a prerequisite for accessing premium finance. For independent wealth advisors and MFOs, this is an institutional-grade capability they can now offer directly. For private banks, it removes one product lock-in mechanism and increases competitive pressure on what they must offer to retain full advisory mandates.

What to watch next

In Singapore, MAS's planned simplification of the single family office tax scheme will clarify how the city-state wants family capital structured. The Private Equity Asia Forum on 23 June should indicate how APAC family offices are repositioning alternative allocations as private markets mature.
In Hong Kong, the HKMA Tokenised Bond Expert Group's second working session and the expected Stablecoins Ordinance guidance in the second half of 2026 will test whether the city can build the market infrastructure, not just the appetite, for digital wealth distribution.
Together, they will show whether Asia's wealth hubs are attracting capital or learning to keep it.