At the Hubbis Investment Forum Hong Kong 2025, industry leaders examined how Hong Kong is repositioning itself within a more crowded and mobile global wealth landscape. The discussion explored the shifting balance between Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and European booking centres, the evolution of client demand across public markets, exchange traded funds and alternatives, and the early but accelerating impact of digital assets and artificial intelligence on operating models. Panellists also reflected on how independent wealth firms and digital platforms are reshaping access, while remaining confident that trusted human advice will continue to anchor client relationships in a more technology driven environment.
Chair: Andrew Hendry, Chief Executive Officer Asia, Janus Henderson Investors
The panel opened with a comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore within a wider network of global wealth centres. A panellist observed that it is unhelpful to frame the relationship purely as a contest between the two. In their view, flows move in cycles and the current cycle favours Dubai, Zurich and Hong Kong, with Hong Kong and Zurich in particular seeing significantly higher levels of account opening than Singapore over the past year.
A panellist noted that Singapore enjoyed a powerful phase of family office establishment when incentives were generous and regulatory support was highly visible. That cycle has moderated as rules have tightened, and anti-money laundering expectations have increased. At the same time, Dubai has attracted non-resident Indian, Chinese and Russian wealth, particularly in relation to local banking and digital assets, even if it is not yet a major international booking centre in the traditional sense.
Within this context, Hong Kong is perceived by the panel to be “coming back”. A panellist highlighted rising account opening volumes and stressed the advantages of proximity to mainland China and Taiwan, both of which remain important sources of wealth creation. Another panellist commented that initial fears about capital safety and potential sanctions have eased, with clients now more comfortable that money booked in Hong Kong remains secure and accessible. They pointed to the visible recovery in local activity, noting that restaurants that were quiet six or seven months ago are now full, which they saw as a practical signal that confidence is returning.
Middle East Capital, Booking Centres and the Separation of Advice and Custody
Turning to the Middle East, a panellist said that the region is better understood as a source of investment targets and a test bed for new business models than as a primary wealth booking destination. They described the Middle East as a place where experimentation in areas such as crypto is encouraged and where connectivity to European capital markets is strong, but where the universe of local investment opportunities remains relatively narrow.
More broadly, the panel agreed that Hong Kong’s resurgence rests on three pillars. First, capital continues to gravitate toward locations where wealth is generated, and for Greater China that continues to point toward Hong Kong. Second, a panellist argued that clients want to operate in jurisdictions whose regulators and market participants embrace innovation and are willing to accommodate new asset classes, including digital assets. Third, the panel highlighted the growing separation between advisory and booking. One panellist explained that clients are increasingly comfortable maintaining custody in Geneva, Zurich or Dubai while retaining advisers in Hong Kong, observing that “as long as your advisers are here, then a lot can happen”.
The same panellist recounted their own experience of considering a move into Singapore several years ago under an internal “Project Orchid”. After consulting peers, they ultimately decided against the shift, as they could not identify client segments, products or solutions that Hong Kong could not serve equally well or more efficiently. In retrospect, they felt vindicated, viewing Singapore as an excellent custodian and fixed income and currency centre, but Hong Kong as their primary base for advisory and growth.
Flows, Trading Behaviour and the Role of Exchange Traded Funds
The discussion then turned to trading patterns and product flows. A panellist observed that retail and larger individual investors remain highly focused on leading global technology names, citing demand for United States stocks such as Tesla and Nvidia. They noted that short maturity options have been “on fire” in terms of activity and that volumes from Asia are significant despite time zone differences.
The same panellist highlighted the rapid rise of overnight trading. As alternative trading systems and extended hours at major exchanges deepen liquidity, clients are increasingly able to execute meaningful orders outside regular sessions. They mentioned that in one recent overnight session, the platform saw trading in around one thousand eight hundred different stocks, which they described as a striking indicator of breadth.
Exchange traded funds remain central. A panellist reported strong flows into both leveraged exchange traded funds, which they associated with day trading, and more conventional vehicles sought by managers and family offices that want either active outperformance or passive market exposure. They characterised recent flows as a mixture of risk seeking and “flight to safety”, with exchange traded funds serving both roles depending on structure and mandate.
Another panellist added that income-oriented exchange traded funds are especially popular among their clients, and that these products are instrumental in their firm’s shift from a retrocession model to one based on assets under management. They emphasised that more than half of their client base is drawn from mainland China and Taiwan, where there has been a clear rotation away from traditional actively managed funds except in specific emerging market situations.
Alternatives, Semi Liquid Strategies and the Silent Majority
The panel devoted considerable time to the growth of private markets and alternative strategies. One panellist said that their firm separates activity between the fund side, where institutional names such as large private equity and hedge fund managers are in demand, and the direct deal side, where private opportunities remain plentiful in selected market segments. They described private deals as “extremely active” and saw ongoing opportunity despite public market strength.
Another panellist positioned their own platform as serving what they called the “silent majority” of affluent investors. In their experience, many such clients historically either held large cash balances or concentrated in property and did comparatively little in diversified portfolios. Access to private markets and hedge funds was limited, both by ticket sizes and by distribution models that did not prioritise this segment.
Over the past two years, that firm has built out a broader alternatives offering, supported by educational frameworks that help clients think about allocation. A panellist stressed that while some family offices may allocate thirty percent or more to alternatives and certain endowments fifty percent or higher, these figures are not automatically appropriate for individual investors. Instead, advisers must align exposure with each client’s liquidity profile and objectives. They remarked that “eyes light up” when clients recognise they can access managers such as large multi strategy hedge funds and global private credit providers, but the advisory role is often to moderate enthusiasm and remind them that some vehicles require multiyear lock ups.
To address operational and educational constraints, platforms are working with specialist partners to create diversified fund of funds structures in private equity and private credit, designed to be more tax efficient and cost effective for high-net-worth individuals who are seeking exposure to the asset class rather than bespoke alpha. A panellist said that this is part of a broader structural trend toward alternatives, but reiterated that the core responsibility is “to help them allocate in the right way”, not simply to open doors.
Digital Assets, Tokenisation and the Super Account Concept
Digital assets and tokenisation were identified as another structural force. A panellist reflected on their own evolution, recalling that as recently as four months earlier, they had approached peers about sponsoring a report on stablecoins and been declined on the grounds that the subject was too conservative or peripheral. In that short time, they felt that attitudes had shifted, with many in the industry now recognising that crypto, blockchain and tokenisation are “coming to get us” in the sense of becoming unavoidable parts of the landscape.
To illustrate the potential scale of change, the same panellist asked clients to imagine a future “super account” offered by a global platform, which could sweep fiat balances into large custodians, support round the clock trading of tokenised versions of major stocks, and provide custody and trading of tokenised corporate bonds and funds. They added that such a platform might even offer tokenised exposure to currently private technology companies, and speculated that a future listing of a prominent space company could theoretically take place on a digital asset venue rather than a traditional stock exchange.
The underlying message was that wealth managers should rethink assumptions about account structures, market hours and product wrappers. A panellist encouraged peers to revisit “everything we have taken for granted” in custody and brokerage models, while emphasising that certain elements remain constant. In their view, business models, platforms and technology can all change, but the neutrality of the adviser, the depth of the client relationship and the quality of advice are likely to be the enduring anchors as tokenisation progresses.
Artificial Intelligence in Day to Day Wealth Management
The panel then turned to artificial intelligence and its practical deployment. One panellist described a firm wide initiative where budget was allocated to encourage staff across functions to propose AI use cases in their day-to-day roles. Teams competed on the number and quality of ideas, and dedicated technology resources were assigned to
Applications span back office operations, investment functions and client engagement. On the operational side, a panellist noted that the expansion from long only funds into alternatives had introduced manual processes and operational risk, particularly where external managers and transfer agents were less automated. AI tools are being used to streamline workflows and reduce error rates. Within investment teams, AI is being explored for fund due diligence, ongoing monitoring and information management.
For client advisers, a panellist said that the priority is to use AI to enhance personalisation at scale. Their platform has grown from around one billion in assets to ten billion across more than two hundred thousand clients, and the firm wants to preserve a “human first” advisory model while maintaining a lean cost base. They have therefore developed tools that help advisers review client histories and generate more tailored portfolio recommendations, allowing each adviser to serve more clients without sacrificing relevance.
Another panellist explained that AI is becoming pervasive across their organisation, from client service through to anti money laundering. They highlighted front end tools that allow users to interrogate portfolio performance and generate bespoke reports, as well as systems that map connections between companies across supply chains rather than by simple sector labels. At the same time, they identified data privacy as a central concern. They stressed that any use of client information within AI models must be carefully controlled so that sensitive data are not inadvertently exposed, particularly given the parallel rise of AI empowered fraud and phishing activity.
In addition, AI is being deployed defensively to detect and prevent fraud. As the same panellist remarked, malicious actors are using the same technologies to create highly convincing impersonations, including deep fake video and audio, which raises the bar for verification and monitoring. They noted that as their firm approaches tens of billions in assets under management, and services both active individuals and institutional clients, tailoring AI to distinct business models has become a major focus.
Market Outlook: Bullish, With Rotations and Industry Change
In closing, the panel offered brief views on the market outlook after several strong years for global equities. One panellist expected the coming year to “be fantastic still”, but anticipated that clients would rotate more actively into private markets after significant gains in listed assets, as part of a broader diversification effort.
Another panellist described themselves as extremely positive on both public markets and the independent wealth management sector. They forecast further consolidation, acquisitions and continued movement of advisers from private banks into the independent space. A third panellist recommended protecting portfolios with short term put options while remaining constructive over the long term. A final panellist invoked mean reversion, suggesting that volatility is likely but expressing confidence that industry growth is only at an early stage.
Overall, the mood was decidedly optimistic. The panel viewed Hong Kong as firmly back in contention as a leading Asian wealth hub, saw structural growth in alternatives and digital solutions, and regarded technology, including AI and tokenisation, as catalysts that will transform operating models without displacing the core importance of trusted human advice.
