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Wealth structuring and asset protection
A trust that owns a holding company, with investment powers reserved to you or your appointee.
Open Wealth structuring and asset protectionFamily office
A family office in Hong Kong: structuring with a trustee
For a family office in Hong Kong, a trust gives the investment holding vehicles an owner of record and a governance frame. The deed sets who decides what, and we keep the record. The family's own office and its licensed managers run the assets; we hold, check and report.
Who it is for
Families and advisers who build a structure around the office
An office that serves one family only is usually run through a company the family owns, and it often holds its investments through vehicles that a trust owns.
That way ownership and succession are settled apart from the day-to-day team.
- Families setting up a single office in Hong Kong or Singapore
- Existing offices that need a trustee to own the holding vehicles
- Families that want a protector, a family council or an investment committee written into the structure
- Advisers designing an office structure and looking for a trustee of record
How it works
How a trust sits above the holding vehicles, step by step
Map the family and the vehicles
Branches of the family, the operating and investment vehicles, and where each sits today.
Design the governance
Your advisers draft the trust deed, the family charter and the committee terms. We explain the trustee's role in each.
Set up the holding layer
A trust holds the shares of the investment holding vehicles. The office is appointed to run the assets under its own licence or exemption.
Open accounts and move assets
Banks and custodians onboard the vehicles; assets move in as the deed allows.
Administer and report
We hold, check and record. The family council and the committee receive the reports the deed sets.
In detail
Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai: what differs
Each place has its own rules for licensing, tax concessions and the office itself, and those rules change. Your advisers in the place where the office sits advise on them.
The trust above the holding vehicles can be governed by Hong Kong law or by another law your advisers choose, whichever place the office is in.
Where we can source a difference, it is below:
- Hong Kong: the Inland Revenue Department publishes the conditions of a profits tax concession that eligible holding vehicles can elect, which your advisers assess.
- Singapore: the Monetary Authority of Singapore explains which trustee activities the Trust Companies Act 2005 reaches.
- Dubai: ask us; we have no sourced difference to show yet.
Facts for each place sit on its own page: Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE, where Dubai sits.
What stays the same is the trustee’s job: hold the vehicles, check that instructions come from the persons the deed authorises, approve distributions and keep the record that the office, the banks and the auditors rely on.
Our role
What we do, and what we do not do
Your own advisers advise; we hold the structure.
What we do
- Act as trustee over the family’s holding vehicles
- Act as director or company secretary of a holding vehicle where the structure needs it
- Keep the record of family council and committee decisions the deed requires us to see
- Check that instructions to the trustee come from the persons the deed authorises
- Approve distributions to family members as the deed provides
- Support your advisers with the records needed for any election or filing they prepare
What we do not do
- Run the office or manage its investments. The office and the managers it appoints do that under their own licence or exemption.
- Give tax advice or promise that any tax concession applies. Eligibility is decided by the tax authority on conditions your advisers assess.
- Give legal advice on licensing or exemptions in any jurisdiction.
- Hold assets we cannot identify or whose source we cannot verify.
Documents and timeline
Documents and timeline
- Draft trust deed, family charter and committee terms of reference
- Identity and proof of address for each settlor, beneficiary with a vested interest, protector and controlling person
- Source of wealth and source of funds for the assets going into the trust
- Tax residence self-certification for each account holder and controlling person
- Corporate documents of each investment holding vehicle and of the office company
- The management agreement between the vehicles and the office
A structure like this comes together in stages: trust and holding layer first, then accounts and asset transfers.
We give the family one checklist and report progress on each line.
FAQ
Questions families ask about offices and trusts
What is a family office?
A private company or team that manages the wealth of one family or several: investments, reporting, administration and often succession. A trust is a different thing: a legal arrangement under which a trustee owns assets for named people. Many families use both, the office for day-to-day management and the trust for ownership.
Does Hong Kong have a tax regime for family offices?
Hong Kong has a profits tax concession for eligible family-owned investment holding vehicles that an eligible office manages. The Inland Revenue Ordinance sets the conditions, such as minimum assets and activity in Hong Kong, and your tax advisers assess whether they are met. We do not promise that any concession applies.
Hong Kong or Singapore for the office: how do they differ?
Where the office sits sets its tax and staffing rules, not the trust. The Inland Revenue Department publishes Hong Kong’s profits tax concession for eligible family vehicles; in Singapore the Trust Companies Act 2005 can apply to firms acting as trustee. Ask your advisers in each place about eligibility, approval for the office and local staff.
What does the structure cost to run?
The cost depends on the number of vehicles, the countries involved and how much governance the family wants written in. We quote after a review of the draft deed and the vehicle list, and the quote lists each fee component. Your advisers’ and the office’s own costs are separate.
Where we work
Related jurisdictions
Singapore
Asia Pacific. We work alongside a local partner who takes a defined role in the trust.
See SingaporeSwitzerland
Europe. We work alongside a local partner who takes a defined role in the trust.
See SwitzerlandUAE (DIFC, ADGM)
Middle East and Africa. We work alongside a local partner who takes a defined role in the trust.
See UAE (DIFC, ADGM)Sources
- Inland Revenue Department, family-owned investment holding vehicles, read 2026-11-06.
- Monetary Authority of Singapore, Trust Companies Act, read 2026-11-04.
Structure your family’s office with a trustee
Bring the office team and your advisers. We walk through the holding layer and the trustee’s role.