Succession and wealth structuring
Singapore trust and family office structures can help families organise succession, governance, investment management, asset protection, and multi-generational wealth planning within a stable financial centre.
Fiduciary foundation
A trust in Singapore is a fiduciary arrangement where a settlor transfers legal ownership of assets to a trustee to manage for the benefit of designated beneficiaries. Singapore trusts are shaped by common law principles and legislation including the Trustees Act, while professional trust companies may also be regulated under the Trust Companies Act.
Properly structured discretionary trusts can support wealth preservation, succession planning, privacy, and smoother asset transfer outside the public probate process. Asset protection and forced heirship outcomes remain fact-specific and depend on timing, settlor domicile, creditor, insolvency, tax, matrimonial, and cross-border considerations.
Operational hub
A family office acts as the command centre for a family's financial affairs. In Singapore, families commonly compare a Single Family Office (SFO) against a Multi-Family Office (MFO), depending on assets under management, desired control, governance needs, and operating cost appetite.
An SFO is a private entity established to serve one family group. It can manage strategic asset allocation, reporting, tax coordination, philanthropy, governance, and administrative matters while preserving a high degree of family control.
An MFO is a commercial wealth management platform serving multiple unrelated families. It lowers operating burden by sharing investment, compliance, reporting, and back-office resources across clients.
| Item | SFO | MFO |
|---|---|---|
| Control | Highest control over mandate, reporting, staffing, and governance culture. | Strategic control remains, but day-to-day execution is delegated. |
| Regulation | May rely on licensing exemptions where it manages assets for related family entities, subject to conditions. | Generally operates as a regulated financial services business and may hold a CMS licence for fund management. |
| Cost profile | Family bears salaries, systems, office, compliance, and operating overhead. | Costs are shared across multiple client families. |
| Typical fit | Families seeking bespoke control, often with investable AUM above S$50 million. | Families below S$50 million AUM or families that prefer not to run their own platform. |
Ready to establish your trust and family office?
We can provide guidance and hand hold you through the process of engaging with various family offices and private banks in Singapore.
Contact usTax incentive planning
Singapore fund tax incentive schemes can exempt qualifying funds from Singapore tax on specified income from designated investments, subject to MAS approval and ongoing conditions. The conditions differ depending on whether the structure is managed by a regulated fund manager or an exempt single family office, so final terms should be checked against current MAS guidance and the approval letter.
| Parameter | Section 13O | Section 13U |
|---|---|---|
| Target profile | Singapore resident fund structures and mid-sized SFO setups. | Larger or more complex structures needing scale and flexibility. |
| Minimum AUM | SFO market guidance commonly references S$20 million at application. Revised fund rules also make Designated Investment AUM and ongoing conditions important. | S$50 million at application and as an ongoing Designated Investment AUM threshold for current awards. |
| Eligible fund entities | Singapore-incorporated company or VCC, depending on route and approval conditions. | More flexible, including Singapore or offshore companies, trusts, limited partnerships, and master-feeder structures. |
| Investment professionals | For exempt SFO family fund structures, commonly 2 local IPs with at least 1 non-family member. | Commonly 3 local IPs with at least 1 non-family member, subject to route and MAS conditions. |
| Local business spending | AUM below S$50M: S$200,000. AUM S$50M to below S$100M: S$500,000. AUM S$100M and above: S$1,000,000 for exempt SFO-managed family fund structures. | Same exempt SFO family fund spending tiers may apply; regulated fund-manager routes can have different tiering based on Designated Investment AUM. |
| Capital deployment | For relevant SFO structures, invest the lower of S$10 million or 10% of AUM into eligible Singapore-based investments. | For relevant SFO structures, invest the lower of S$10 million or 10% of AUM into eligible Singapore-based investments. |
| MAS approval | Required. | Required. |
Integrated architecture
Trust, tax, regulatory, immigration, and investment management advice should be coordinated before implementation, especially for cross-border families.
