SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) – Morgan Stanley, the world’s second-largest wealth manager, is beefing up its services for rich clients in Singapore with a focus on Chinese entrepreneurs looking to set up family offices in the city state.

“The city is a key business hub for China entrepreneurs, as well as a family office nexus,” Vincent Chui, who heads the bank’s Asia wealth operations, said in an interview. The US bank hired Wee Yee Yeong to head its Singapore wealth business this year, and plans to add relationship managers there and in Hong Kong, he said.

Morgan Stanley’s focus underscores the significance of the family office industry in the South-east Asia nation, where the number of dedicated firms to manage personal wealth of tycoons and their relatives quadrupled from 2015 to 2017, official data show. Chinese millionaires are increasingly looking to set up offshore structures to protect their fortunes from the mainland’s newly toughened tax regime.

Mr Chui signaled that Morgan Stanley can provide services to business owners who are made wealthier following initial public offerings managed by the bank. “In 2018, Morgan Stanley led more than 20 offshore IPOs for Chinese private companies and this delivers to us excellent cross-selling opportunities,” he said.

Among major Chinese share sales that Morgan Stanley helped manage in Hong Kong last year are Xiaomi Corp’s US$5.4 billion IPO and Tencent Holdings’ additional offering.

Mr Wee joined Morgan Stanley from Bank of Singapore, where he was a senior executive focusing on Greater China and family offices, Mr Chui said. The US firm plans to hire 50 relationship managers for both Hong Kong and Singapore over the next three years, bringing the regional headcount to around 150, he said.

On top of this, it’s seeking to recruit investment counselors, wealth planners and specialists for capital-market access and financing in the cities, according to Mr Chui. A recent pause in a hiring spree at Asian private banks has given the firm a chance to find talent, he said.

Private banks from UBS Group to Credit Suisse Group offer services to family offices of the wealthy by advising them on investments and helping to finance their transactions. Some also give advice on succession planning and philanthropy.

Morgan Stanley managed US$2.2 trillion of assets in 2017, second only to UBS, according to London-based Scorpio Partnership. In Asia, it ranked seventh.

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