SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) – DBS Group Holdings is seeing a surge in accounts for family offices and expects to have more than US$10 billion (S$13.5 billion) in related assets under management by 2025.

Lee Woon Shiu, a managing director who heads up wealth planning at DBS Private Bank in the region, said the amount of assets under management for the family office unit grew by 40 per cent year-on-year with the average account holder placing US$150 million with the bank.

The number of family offices in Asia has surged in recent years as the region’s wealthy clans seek professional money managers to look after their assets. Singapore is trying to become a global hub for the wealth management industry and local regulators in October estimated that the number of single family offices in the city grew to about 200 last year.

“We expect to see strong growth being created in Asia with the slew of IPOs being organized and arranged in Hong Kong and China,” said Mr Lee, adding that the average account holder has a net worth of US$600 million.

DBS expects to see continued compound annual growth of 20 per cent for the next three-to- five years, after achieving “strong single-digit billions” in assets under management for the family office unit this year, he added.

Other growth is coming from non-Asian family offices establishing satellite offices in Singapore for investments and holdings across the region – James Dyson’s Weybourne Group started a Singapore outpost last year.

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