Asset management in Singapore: how a S$6.7 trillion industry works
Singapore manages more money than its economy could ever generate — three-quarters of it arrives from abroad, and nearly ninety cents of every dollar leaves again as investments across Asia and beyond. That gateway pattern is the whole story of the industry: who the players are, how MAS licenses them, which vehicles the money sits in, and why the flows keep choosing Singapore.
The short answer
Asset management in Singapore is a gateway industry: money raised globally, managed locally, invested regionally. As at end-2025 the industry ran S$6.7 trillion, having grown 10.1% on the back of S$376 billion in net inflows — new money actively choosing Singapore, not just markets rising. The manager population spans global houses, private banks, external asset managers, over 2,000 incentivised family offices and the licensed fund managers running the country's fund vehicles — more than half of whom now operate at least one Variable Capital Company. MAS licenses the managers, the VCC and its siblings hold the funds, and the 13-series tax exemptions make qualifying structures efficient. The full-year data lives in our Asset Management Survey 2025 breakdown; this page is the permanent map.
The shape of the money
Three ratios define the industry better than any league table. About 39% of AUM originates from Asia-Pacific outside Singapore, 24% from Singapore itself, and 15% from North America — the capital base is genuinely global. Around 88% is invested outside Singapore, most of it back into Asia-Pacific — managers sit here to run Asian exposure, not to buy the local market. And the mix is shifting: 2025 was the year traditional strategies (up ~9%) outgrew alternatives (up just 0.4%) for the first time in years, as global private-market fundraising cooled while listed markets and inflows stayed strong. Hedge funds and REITs still advanced within the alternatives book; private equity and real estate paused.
Who the players are — and how they fit together
| Player | What they do | Where they sit in the chain |
|---|---|---|
| Global & regional asset managers | Institutional mandates, mutual funds, ETFs, alternatives | The volume: most of the S$6.7T runs through licensed managers' Singapore desks |
| Private banks | Custody, credit and advice for HNW and UHNW clients | The booking layer — where wealth is held; entry thresholds keep drifting upward |
| External asset managers (EAMs) | Independent portfolio management; client assets stay custodied at the banks | The independent advice layer, and a fast-growing one — EAM/MFO structures account for roughly a fifth of VCCs |
| Family offices (SFO/MFO) | Managing one family's — or several families' — private wealth | 2,000+ incentivised SFOs; the fastest-growing client segment of everything above |
| Fund service providers | Administration and NAV, custody, audit, legal, corporate secretarial | The plumbing every structure above depends on |
The boundaries blur productively: private-bank clients hire EAMs; families graduate from EAM mandates to their own SFO; EAMs and MFOs consolidate clients onto umbrella VCC platforms. One buyer, maturing through the same ecosystem.
The regulatory stack, in one pass
Licensing. Managing third-party money requires a capital markets services licence from MAS — as an accredited/institutional LFMC, a retail LFMC, or a venture capital fund manager (VCFM) under the lighter VC regime. The old RFMC registration category was repealed on 1 August 2024. Qualifying single family offices manage their own family's wealth under a class licensing exemption, which since June 2026 carries its own notification conditions rather than riding automatically on a tax award.
Conduct and resilience. On top of licensing sit AML/CFT obligations, technology-risk and cyber-hygiene rules, business-continuity expectations and — from 2026 — a refresh of the operational-risk and third-party-risk frameworks. Supervision has teeth; Singapore's pitch is credibility, not lightness.
Vehicles. The VCC is the purpose-built fund company — 1,406 of them holding 3,443 sub-funds at end-2025 — alongside unit trusts for retail funds and Singapore limited partnerships for closed-end strategies, which gained direct access to fund tax exemption through 13OA in 2025.
Tax. The 13D/13O/13OA/13U schemes exempt qualifying funds' specified income, with conditions that now differ formally between commercial funds and family-office funds. GST remission and withholding-tax exemption ride alongside. And in August 2026 the government moved on the last untaxed-relief frontier: a tax exemption on a share of fund managers' own performance profits, applying from 2026 income with details due at Budget 2027 — a direct answer to Hong Kong's competing bill.
Why the money keeps choosing Singapore
- Rule of law and political stability — the non-negotiable for institutional and family capital alike.
- The treaty network — 90+ double-tax agreements that reduce withholding on Asian portfolio income; the practical edge over tax-neutral offshore domiciles.
- No capital gains tax, and fund exemptions that make the remaining tax picture predictable.
- Depth of ecosystem — managers, administrators, auditors, lawyers and banks who do this work daily, which shows up as speed and cost.
- Policy that keeps compounding — the equity-market development programme, the retail private-markets framework in consultation, tokenisation pilots moving to production, and the 2026 manager-tax package.
Where it's heading
Three currents worth watching. The alternatives pause — flat in 2025 — is cyclical in fundraising but structural in selectivity: allocators are consolidating toward managers with clean governance and infrastructure, which favours Singapore's compliance-heavy model. Retail access to private markets is in the works via MAS's long-term investment fund proposals, which would put private equity and credit inside authorised vehicles for ordinary investors. And tokenisation has moved from pilots to production funds, with money-market funds issued through VCCs already live. Each current runs through the same vehicle layer — which is why the VCC count keeps compounding faster than the industry that hosts it.
Building something in Singapore's asset management industry?
Whether you're a manager weighing the licence routes, a family office choosing a structure, or an allocator mapping the ecosystem — tell us what you're trying to do. We'll point you at the right framework and connect you with MAS-licensed CMS fund managers where it's the right fit.
Speak to a specialist →How big is Singapore's asset management industry?
S$6.7 trillion in assets under management as at end-2025, per the MAS Singapore Asset Management Survey — up 10.1% on the year, driven by S$376 billion of net inflows. Roughly 76% of that money is sourced from outside Singapore and about 88% is invested outside Singapore, mostly into Asia-Pacific: Singapore functions as a global gateway for managing Asian exposure, not a domestic market.
Who manages money in Singapore?
Five overlapping groups: global and regional asset managers running institutional and fund mandates; the private banks that custody and advise on wealth; external asset managers (EAMs) who manage client portfolios independently while assets stay custodied at the banks; single and multi family offices managing private wealth — over 2,000 SFOs now hold tax incentive awards; and the licensed fund managers running VCC and other fund structures, more than half of whom now operate at least one VCC.
How is asset management regulated in Singapore?
By MAS, in layers. Managing other people's money requires a capital markets services licence for fund management — as an accredited/institutional LFMC, a retail LFMC, or under the lighter venture capital fund manager (VCFM) regime; the old RFMC registration category was repealed on 1 August 2024. Qualifying single family offices operate under a class licensing exemption with its own conditions. On top of licensing sit conduct, AML/CFT, technology-risk and business-continuity requirements.
What fund structures are used in Singapore?
The Variable Capital Company has become the default — 1,406 VCCs holding 3,443 sub-funds by end-2025 — because its capital moves with investor flows and its umbrella form ring-fences sub-funds by statute. Unit trusts remain common for retail funds, and Singapore limited partnerships serve closed-end private equity and venture strategies, with the 13OA scheme extending fund tax exemption to LPs from 2025.
Why do global investors manage money through Singapore?
A cluster of durable reasons: political stability and rule of law, a network of over 90 tax treaties that reduces withholding on Asian portfolio income, no capital gains tax, deep professional and banking infrastructure, and fund tax exemptions (13D/13O/13OA/13U) that make qualifying vehicles tax-efficient. In 2026 the government added a further layer, announcing a tax exemption on a share of fund managers' own performance profits — a direct response to competition from Hong Kong.