Hong Kong Private Wealth Assets Climb 24% to Record HK$12.9 Trillion

The 11th Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Report found that 77 per cent of firms recorded stronger demand for new accounts and asset booking in the city, up from 59 per cent a year earlier. None reported a decline. In addition, 94 per cent were moderately or highly optimistic about the market’s prospects over the next five years.

Growth accelerated from 2024, when assets under management rose 15 per cent to HK$10.4 trillion and net inflows increased 13 per cent, according to the previous edition. The findings follow Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth Report 2026, published in May. It said Hong Kong had overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border booking centre for the first time. At the end of 2025, Hong Kong’s cross-border wealth stood at $2.95 trillion, narrowly ahead of Switzerland’s $2.94 trillion. Hong Kong’s assets grew 10.7 per cent, compared with 7.6 per cent in Switzerland, driven by mainland Chinese inflows and a revival in IPO activity.

Firms also pointed to regional links as a source of business. Seventy-nine per cent said Greater Bay Area initiatives would be critical or moderately important to their offshore Hong Kong business over the next five years; respondents also cited the Wealth Management Connect regime linking the mainland with Hong Kong and Macao. Ninety-one per cent backed wider access to STAR Market and ChiNext shares for qualified professional investors. The same share said they were increasing their focus on next-generation clients.

Digital asset services and AI adoption expanded. The share of firms actively developing digital-asset trading platforms, products or custody services rose to 25 per cent from 16 per cent. A further 13 per cent already offer such services, while 28 per cent plan to invest within two to three years. Forty-three per cent have added crypto exchange-traded funds or products, and 17 per cent have launched or distributed tokenised products. Meanwhile, 88 per cent reported moderate or significant progress in adopting AI, generative AI or agentic AI, up from 56 per cent a year earlier. Most applications still accelerate existing tasks rather than redesign operating models.

“Success should not be measured by how many tools we deploy, but by how much more time our people can devote to clients,” said Jia Ning Song, head of banking and capital markets, Hong Kong SAR, at KPMG China. Song said relationship managers still spend too much time on work that takes them away from client conversations. BCG expects cross-border wealth in Hong Kong and Singapore to grow by around 9 per cent annually through 2030, compared with about 6 per cent in Switzerland.