Singapore Is Looking Beyond Fund Formation to Build a Deeper Growth Capital Ecosystem

Singapore’s Next Phase: Growth Capital, Global Wealth and the Infrastructure Behind Them

Singapore has spent years building its position as a fund, asset management and wealth management hub. Recent remarks from two senior officials show where attention is now turning: how capital is raised, deployed, realized and recycled through the market, and how Singapore stays competitive as a home for international wealth.

In a speech at SuperReturn Asia on 29 September 2026, Minister for National Development and MAS Deputy Chairman Chee Hong Tat outlined the work of the Growth Capital Workgroup. The Workgroup is examining how Singapore can strengthen the financing ecosystem around growing companies and private market investment.

Weeks later, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong turned to wealth management. He spoke first at the Wealth Management Institute’s Global Asia Family Office Summit on 5 October, then in an interview with Bloomberg TV on 14 October. He argued that Singapore has a strong proposition for wealthy investors, despite growing competition from Hong Kong, Dubai and other international wealth centres.

Neither is simply another fund attraction initiative. Both focus on what happens around capital once it is in Singapore: how it is financed, managed, realised and supported over time.

Where Singapore Stands Today

The latest figures provide some context.

MAS reported that Singapore’s asset management industry reached S$6.7 trillion in assets under management in 2025, an increase of 10.1% from the previous year. More than 1,300 asset managers operate in Singapore, and MAS said seven of the world’s 10 largest private market managers have a presence here.

On the wealth side, Mr Gan reported on 5 October that private banking client assets in Singapore had grown by approximately 50% over the preceding five years. Between 2024 and 2025 alone, they increased by 15%.

The two measures cover different segments of the financial industry, but both illustrate the scale of activity taking place in Singapore.

Scale alone, however, does not create a complete capital ecosystem, and it does not guarantee that international wealth will keep choosing Singapore. Both speeches address those gaps.

Building the Full Capital Cycle

Companies need different forms of financing as they grow. Investors need ways to deploy capital, realise investments and put that capital back to work. Fund managers and intermediaries are needed to originate, structure and finance transactions around that activity.

The Growth Capital Workgroup, convened by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry earlier in 2026, is looking at those connections together. Its focus extends across the investment lifecycle, from growth stage and mid market capital to exits, secondaries, continuation vehicles, securitization and asset backed financing.

MAS identified three broad opportunities from the Workgroup’s industry engagement.

1. More capital for growth stage and mid market companies

The first is strengthening Singapore’s capabilities in growth stage and mid market investing.

Across Asia, companies looking to scale and expand into new markets need larger and more varied pools of capital. MAS noted that managers can contribute more than funding alone, including helping companies strengthen management teams and governance, enter new markets and professionalise their operations.

That places growth capital within a wider ecosystem of managers, investors and intermediaries rather than treating it simply as a fundraising question.

2. More ways to exit and recycle capital

The second area is particularly relevant to private markets.

Industry participants identified scope to deepen exit channels including mergers and acquisitions, strategic sales, private market secondaries and continuation vehicles.

Deploying private capital is only one side of the cycle. Investors also need workable routes to liquidity. When investments can be realised, capital can be recycled into new companies, funds and opportunities.

The explicit reference to private market secondaries and continuation vehicles is worth noting as MAS considers how Singapore can broaden exit and capital recycling options.

3. Deeper financing capabilities

The third area is the financing infrastructure around private markets.

MAS highlighted securitization and asset backed financing as areas where Singapore could build further capabilities, drawing on its experience in infrastructure securitization and its institutional investor base. As private markets grow, MAS said these opportunities could extend to a broader range of private market assets.

This could become important for managers and investors looking beyond conventional equity financing towards structures that connect different assets with institutional capital.

Policy and regulation are part of the review

The Workgroup is now moving from identifying opportunities to developing concrete measures. Ideas under consideration include incentives, seed funding, risk sharing arrangements and measures to strengthen investment and intermediary capabilities.

MAS will also review whether existing policy and regulatory frameworks can be improved. The stated aim is for regulation to remain risk proportionate rather than zero risk, allowing investment, innovation and growth while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

One specific area under review is the capital treatment of infrastructure and securitisation assets held by insurers. MAS will consider whether current capital requirements are sufficiently sensitive to the underlying risks of those assets. MAS said increasing that risk sensitivity can give insurers stronger incentives to invest in high quality assets and enhance their ability to manage risks.

No final package has been announced. The Workgroup intends to continue engaging the industry and release recommendations in batches as the work progresses.

Public and private markets are being connected

Singapore is increasingly treating public and private markets as connected parts of the same financing journey. Private capital can support companies as they grow. Public markets can later provide access to a wider investor base and another route for earlier investors to realise their investments.

This helps explain why work on the growth capital ecosystem is happening alongside measures to deepen Singapore’s equities market. MAS has now allocated S$5.4 billion of the expanded S$6.5 billion Equity Market Development Programme across 14 asset managers, with a fourth batch of appointments expected in 2027. MAS has also committed S$20 million from the Financial Sector Development Fund for a new GEMS Market Making Grant, initially covering around 80 eligible small and mid cap stocks as well as newly listed stocks.

Those measures are not the focus of the Growth Capital Workgroup, but they show how the different parts of Singapore’s capital market strategy are beginning to connect.

Competing for Global Wealth

Competition is not slowing down

Private banks, family offices, investment managers and professional service providers have expanded their presence in Singapore as more international capital is managed from the city state.

But Singapore is not competing alone. Hong Kong continues to develop its wealth management and family office industry, while Dubai has become an increasingly visible destination for internationally mobile wealth.

Mr Gan’s message was clear. Attracting global wealth is not just about investment opportunities or favorable tax treatment. It is also about giving investors confidence that their assets are managed within a stable, well regulated and efficient financial system. He pointed to Singapore’s efforts to keep its regulations updated and make wealth management activities more efficient, without making it unnecessarily difficult for investors and financial institutions to operate.

Faster account opening is one area of focus

One practical example is private banking account opening.

For wealthy individuals and families, establishing a banking relationship can involve extensive documentation, source of wealth assessments and due diligence checks. These requirements remain important, particularly where assets and business interests span multiple jurisdictions. But the process can also be time consuming.

MAS has been working with the Private Banking Industry Group (PBIG) to improve onboarding efficiency while maintaining appropriate safeguards. The initiative includes greater use of technology, a risk appropriate approach to source of wealth assessments and additional professional training.

PBIG has committed to bringing the median account opening time at its member banks to within one month by the end of 2026. Mr Gan reported on 5 October that nearly half of new accounts opened by member banks during the preceding three months had already been completed within that timeframe.

For international clients, improvements of this kind can make a practical difference when deciding where to establish banking and wealth management arrangements.

Family offices want greater investment flexibility

Singapore is also reviewing aspects of its fund tax incentive framework as investment preferences evolve.

At the 5 October summit, Mr Gan acknowledged feedback from single family offices seeking greater flexibility in the types of investments they can hold, including digital payment tokens and insurance policies.

MAS is considering these matters as part of its review of the Designated Investment list, which determines the investments eligible for tax exemption under the relevant fund tax incentive schemes. The revised list and implementation date have not yet been announced, and until changes are formally introduced, the existing requirements continue to apply.

For family offices operating under Singapore’s fund tax incentive arrangements, any future changes could affect how investment portfolios are structured and managed.

What This Could Mean in Practice

Taken together, these developments point to a more varied and more demanding operating environment.

If the growth capital measures under consideration take effect, managers could have more options around growth financing, private market exits, secondaries, continuation structures and asset backed financing. At the same time, family offices and investment managers are expanding into private equity, private credit, direct investments and cross border structures.

More complex investment and liquidity structures bring different requirements around valuation, accounting, governance, transaction records, investor reporting and administration. A continuation vehicle, for example, creates a different operating and governance exercise from a conventional portfolio exit. Private credit and asset backed structures similarly require information and controls that extend beyond processing a portfolio of market priced securities.

Accounting, fund administration, corporate services, governance, compliance and reporting all form part of the infrastructure needed to support these activities. MAS has previously recognised the contribution of single family offices to demand for professional and ancillary services, including fund administration.

Attracting capital is one consideration. Having the financial institutions, professional expertise and operating infrastructure to support that capital over time is another. As the range of structures grows, that infrastructure will need to keep pace.

What Comes Next

Singapore’s latest direction is less about introducing one major new incentive and more about strengthening what happens around capital: how companies obtain growth capital, how transactions are financed, how investors exit and recycle capital, and how efficiently wealth can be onboarded and managed.

Trust remains important, but so do practical considerations such as banking efficiency, regulatory clarity and investment flexibility.

Three developments are worth watching:

– The Growth Capital Workgroup’s recommendations, which will be released in batches as the work progresses.

– Progress on private banking onboarding, against PBIG’s end 2026 target of a one-month median account-opening time.

– MAS’s forthcoming updates to the Designated Investment list.

Together, they will give a clearer indication of how Singapore intends to remain competitive as both private markets and international wealth management continue to evolve.

Sources

– Monetary Authority of Singapore, 29 September 2026, “Connecting Capital and Opportunity: Building a Trusted Growth Capital Ecosystem”, keynote speech by Mr Chee Hong Tat at SuperReturn Asia.

– [Monetary Authority of Singapore, 5 October 2026](https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/speeches/2026/keynote-speech-by-dpm-gan-kim-yong-at-wmi-gfoc-summit), keynote speech by DPM Gan Kim Yong at the Global-Asia Family Office Summit.

– [The Straits Times, 14 October 2026](https://www.straitstimes.com/business/wealthy-investors-can-trust-singapore-to-manage-their-assets-gan-kim-yong), “Wealthy investors can trust Singapore to manage their assets: Gan Kim Yong”.

– Monetary Authority of Singapore, 2025 Singapore Asset Management Survey.

– Monetary Authority of Singapore, August 2026 parliamentary reply on single family offices.

*This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, regulatory, accounting or investment advice.*