Lawrence Wong: Speech - The Global-Asia Family Office Summit

Opening address by Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Owner's Symposium of the Global-Asia Family Office Summit, Singapore, 29 September 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Chairman and CEO of the Wealth Management Institute, Mr Lim Chow Kiat, Ms Foo Mee Har
Distinguished Guests, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.  I am very happy to join you this morning for the Owner's Symposium, as well as the  inaugural Global-Asia Family Office Summit. It is a great time to be in Singapore and I welcome all our overseas guests. It is a good time from a Covid-19 situation point of view, as we are in a far better place today than we were when the pandemic started. And also because we have a whole series of events lined up this week in the run up to the F1. I hope some of you will stay on for the race. We welcome all of you here. Our hotels are full, and throughout these few days there are so many events where you see people coming together, intermingling, wanting to connect with one another. It shows how strong the desire is for human connections after two and a half years of isolation. 

2.  This summit reflects the growing presence of family offices in Singapore, and around the world. 

a. The concept of family offices of course is not new – it dates as far back as the 19th century, if not earlier.

b. But the number of family offices around the world have increased substantially in the last 20 years. 

c. It reflects the growth in global wealth in recent decades, as well as a desire by families to professionalise how their wealth is managed.