Key Highlights
- 39% of surveyed family offices plan to increase exposure to private equity and venture capital, while 28% intend to raise digital asset allocations.
- Hong Kong’s single-family office count surpassed 3,380 as of the end of 2025—growth of more than 25% over two years.
- Hong Kong will extend tax incentives for single-family offices to cover digital assets, gold, and other commodities, with legislation expected in H1 2026.
Hong Kong’s family offices are preparing for a significant reallocation away from traditional holdings and toward higher-risk, higher-return alternatives. A new report published Tuesday by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, shows that private equity, venture capital, private credit, and digital assets are all set to see what the report describes as “notably rising” interest over the next three years.
The survey covered 101 family office entities—both single and multi-family offices—between October 2024 and April 2025. About 44% of the entities surveyed managed at least $1 billion in assets.
Their wealth mostly originated from Hong Kong, mainland China, and other parts of Asia, reflecting the city’s role as a conduit between Chinese capital and global markets.
The directional signals in the data are clear. Of those surveyed, 39% plan to increase exposure to private equity and venture capital, against only 13% planning a reduction. Private credit follows closely at 36% planning increases versus just 5% decreases. Digital assets show a 28% planning increase with only 1% planning to cut—the widest gap between intended increases and decreases in the entire survey.
The Digital Asset Signal
Giorgio Valente, Head of the HKIMR, described the digital asset market as “growing, but still at an early stage” at a press briefing on Tuesday. “Many long-term investors, including family offices, are watching this space and reassessing their positioning,” he said.
That characterization—measured but directionally clear—captures where institutional sentiment appears to sit in early 2026. Family offices are not rushing into crypto with concentrated bets, but the survey data suggests they are increasingly treating digital assets as a permanent portfolio allocation rather than a speculative trade.
The report indicates that family offices are approaching digital assets in two ways: cautious, risk-managed exposure to core digital assets and infrastructure on one hand, and venture-style investments in the broader blockchain ecosystem on the other.
The near-zero reduction intent is the detail that stands out. Across every other asset class in the survey, a meaningful minority of respondents plan to decrease exposure. For digital assets, that figure is 1%—suggesting that those already allocated have little appetite to exit, even as they weigh whether to add more.
Why Hong Kong, and Why Now
The report finds that 91% of survey respondents are already invested in Hong Kong, citing its regulatory framework, free flow of capital, deep capital markets, and competitive tax regime as key reasons. That tax regime is about to get more favorable for exactly the asset classes family offices say they want.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced in the 2026 Budget speech that Hong Kong will extend tax incentives for single-family offices to cover holdings in gold, digital assets, and other specified commodities, with legislation expected in the first half of 2026.
A Deloitte/InvestHK family office market study released in February 2026 confirmed that the planned expansion will broaden tax-exempt investments to include digital assets, loans, private credit, and other investment types—directly addressing the asset classes family offices say they want more of.
The policy alignment is deliberate. Over 3,380 single-family offices were operating in Hong Kong as of end-2025, according to government figures—an increase of roughly 680 offices over two years, representing growth of more than 25%.
That expansion has happened alongside a sustained government push to position Hong Kong as a credible alternative to Singapore and Dubai for ultra-high-net-worth families.
The Hong Kong government has set a target, outlined in the Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address, to assist more than 220 family offices to establish or expand their business in Hong Kong from 2026 to 2028.
The “Family Office 2.0” initiative signals that the first phase—attracting offices to the city—is largely complete. The second phase is about deepening what those offices do once they’re here, and the tax incentive expansion appears designed to support exactly that.
How the Reallocation Is Likely to Play Out
The survey data points to a portfolio shift that is broad-based rather than concentrated in a single asset class. Private equity leads in planned uptake, but the digital asset conviction ratio—28% planning to increase versus 1% planning to decrease—is structurally notable because it suggests a floor under existing allocations, not just new interest.
Geographically, respondents indicated a preference for reducing US exposure and refocusing on Hong Kong, with optimism toward mainland China and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Technology, media, healthcare, and AI were flagged as the most favored sectors—a profile that aligns with both the private equity and venture capital ambitions in the data.
The broader trajectory is that Hong Kong’s family office sector is entering what its own government has called a new phase—one where simply managing inherited wealth gives way to active, diversified, alternatives-heavy investing.
With regulatory support aligned to those ambitions and a growing ecosystem of peers to invest alongside, the conditions for that shift are in place. Whether family offices follow through at the scale the data implies will depend on market conditions, regulatory execution, and how quickly the tax incentive legislation is finalized.
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