The Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) latest Asset and Wealth Management Activities Survey found that the assets under management (AUM) of the asset and wealth management business (Note 1) in Hong Kong increased by 20% year-on-year to $28,769 billion (US$3,694 billion) (Note 2) as at 31 December 2019.
"Hong Kong’s asset and wealth management business posted strong growth in 2019 despite the challenges facing global markets and we remain committed to further developing Hong Kong as a premier global asset and wealth management centre," said Mr Ashley Alder, the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer. "The performance of Hong Kong’s financial markets in the first half of 2020 showed that they remain resilient."
Highlights of the survey include:
- Net fund inflows of $1,668 billion (US$214 billion) were recorded for the asset and wealth management business during 2019 (Note 3).
- The AUM of the asset management and fund advisory businesses conducted by licensed corporations (LCs) and registered institutions (RIs) increased by 22% year-on-year to $20,040 billion (US$2,574 billion).
- The AUM of the private banking and private wealth management business grew by 19% to $9,058 billion (US$1,163 billion).
- Assets held under trusts increased by 11% to $3,844 billion (US$494 billion).
- The number of licensed corporations carrying out asset management (Type 9 regulated activity) in Hong Kong increased by 10% to 1,808.
- The total number of staff in the asset and wealth management business was 45,132 (Note 4), with an increasing proportion directly engaged in asset management and related support functions.
During the first half of 2020, Hong Kong’s financial markets remained resilient despite challenging circumstances:
- After experiencing net fund outflows in the first quarter in line with global market dislocation and a “flight to safety” arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, Hong Kong-domiciled public funds rebounded in the second quarter with net fund inflows of $27 billion (US$3.5 billion).
- The Hong Kong stock and futures markets have been active, with average daily turnover increasing 20% year-on-year to $117.5 billion (US$15.2 billion).
- The initial public offering market has continued to thrive, with $92.8 billion (US$12 billion) raised during the first half of 2020.
Notes:
- Asset and wealth management business comprises asset management, fund advisory, private banking and private wealth management, SFC-authorised real estate investment trusts and assets held under trusts. Highlights of the survey are included in Appendix.
- Unless stated otherwise, the values given are in Hong Kong dollars, and all comparisons are made on a year-on-year basis (ie, 2018 versus 2019). Values shown in US dollars are converted at the prevailing exchange rate at the relevant time.
- Some fund inflows were attributable to business restructuring by international firms which allocated more AUM to Hong Kong in 2019.
- For 2019, the scope of the survey was expanded to include the staff profile of trustees. For comparison purposes, the number of staff engaged in asset and wealth management business (excluding trustees) as of 31 December 2019 was 43,631, representing an increase of 2%.
