DBS Private Bank said on Tuesday its multi-family office platform has amassed more than S$1 billion (US$780 million, A$1.18 billion) in assets under management just two years after launch, with plans to double that figure to S$2 billion by the end of 2026.
The platform, DBS Multi Family Office Foundry VCC (DBS MFO), reflects Singapore’s rising status as a global hub for family wealth at a time of heightened economic uncertainty and volatile markets.
Family offices are private investment entities established by the ultra-rich to manage wealth, tax planning and succession. Multi-family offices provide similar services to multiple families, pooling resources under one structure.
DBS MFO allows wealthy families to set up Singapore-based investment vehicles without building single-family offices from scratch. The bank manages administration while clients retain control of their investment strategies.
“In the last nine months, we've seen more things happen than maybe the last nine years,” Lee Woon Shiu, Group Head of Wealth Planning, Family Office and Insurance Solutions at DBS Private Bank told Reuters.
“This really heightened sense of insecurity that's triggered by this state of flux, this state of uncertainty, this state of volatility is making clients very nervous, and that has actually fast-tracked some of these clients' decision-making process.”
Lee said the platform’s S$1 billion in assets represent entirely new inflows, with clients spanning Europe, India, Greater China and other parts of Asia.
DBS is currently in discussions with more than 15 prospective families and expects AUM to reach S$2 billion by 2026, driven by demand for Singapore’s predictable, transparent and flexible regulatory environment.
Launched in 2023, the platform has onboarded more than 25 families to date, each contributing a minimum of S$15 million per sub-fund.
It is built on Singapore’s variable capital company (VCC) structure, introduced in 2020, which allows faster onboarding compared with traditional family office setups.
