Speech by Acting SFST at AIMA APAC Annual Forum 2026 (English only) (with photo)

Following is the speech by the Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan, at the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Asia-Pacific (APAC) Annual Forum 2026 today (October 29):

Jack (Chief Executive Officer of the AIMA, Mr Jack Inglis), Mike (Managing Director and Co-head of APAC, AIMA, Mr Michael Bugel), Kher-sheng (Managing Director and Co-head of APAC, AIMA, Mr Lee Kher-sheng), identified visitors, market leaders, girls and gentlemen,

Excellent early morning. It is my fantastic satisfaction to join you all today at the AIMA APAC Annual Forum 2026. Let me very first extend my genuine thankfulness to AIMA for arranging this impressive online forum, and extend a hot welcome to all the policymakers, regulative leaders, alternative financial investment management believed leaders, and members of the AIMA neighborhood who have actually collected here from throughout the area. As we browse a complex and quickly altering international landscape, today’s online forum offers an essential platform to resolve the crucial regulative, policy, and functional focus locations expected for Asia-Pacific supervisors.

Under the special “one country, two systems” concept, Hong Kong is the only city on the planet that assembles both the China benefit and the worldwide benefit. Under “one country”we delight in preferential access to the Chinese Mainland market, consisting of the Stock Connect, Bond Connect, Wealth Management Connect and the shared acknowledgment of funds. Under “two systems”Hong Kong’s core competitiveness consists of the complimentary circulation of capital, our typical law system, a basic and low tax routine, and a regulative program completely suitable with those of significant global markets.

These unique benefits position Hong Kong as the “super connector” and “super value-adder” in between China and the worldwide markets, and in between the East and the West. Today, Hong Kong stands as a premier worldwide platform throughout crucial property classes. We happily rank 3rd on the planet and initially in Asia under the Global Financial Centres Index.

This strong structure equates straight into remarkable market dynamism and strength. According to the current yearly study by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), overall possessions under management (AUM) of Hong Kong’s property and wealth management company reached a record high of HK$ 42.2 trillion, or roughly US$ 5.4 trillion, at the end of 2025, signing up a 20 percent year-on-year boost. The net fund inflows entering into Hong Kong in 2015 rose by 193 percent year-on-year to reach HK$ 2.1 trillion, or US$ 265 billion. These figures clearly show Hong Kong’s indisputable status as Asia’s leading property and wealth management center for worldwide financiers.

The AUM of Hong Kong’s personal equity (PE) funds amounted to US$ 250 billion as of June 2026, ranking 2nd in Asia by scale, just routing the Chinese Mainland market in the area. We invite alternative possession funds to list in Hong Kong to promote more development of our market. The SFC released a circular in February 2025 to clarify the regulative requirements for authorising alternative possession funds (e.g. funds buying PE, personal credit, facilities equity or financial obligation, and so on), thus motivating these funds, ideally large ones with routine earnings streams, to note in Hong Kong. In May 2025, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority clarified that MPF (Mandatory Provident Fund) funds might purchase authorized listed personal equity funds.

With lively personal equity and equity capital activities in the city, the advancement of our Limited Partnership Fund (LPF) routine of Hong Kong has actually reached a considerable turning point. Because its launch in August 2020, the LPF routine has actually been met strong market interest, with speeding up development in the last few years. The variety of LPFs signed up in Hong Kong exceeded the 2 000 mark August this year, and reached nearly 2 100 at the end of September. The routine has actually effectively assisted in the channelling of capital to Hong Kong’s personal equity and equity capital market, producing need for monetary and associated expert services, such as legal, accounting and custodian sectors.

We have actually likewise sealed our position as the world’s biggest cross-boundary wealth management centre, and Asia’s biggest hedge fund center. Forecasts show that from 2025 to 2030, cross-boundary wealth handled in Hong Kong will grow by approximately 9 percent every year, keeping us securely at the leading position worldwide.

We do not take our success for given, and we comprehend that there is no space for complacency. We identify that preserving our one-upmanship needs constant discussion and close collaboration with the market, and for this, I need to extend my wholehearted thanks to AIMA and our numerous market partners for your vital assistance and positive feedback for many years.

In direct reaction to market feedback, we have actually taken definitive legal action to hone our edge. In June 2026, we presented the Bill into the Legislative Council (LegCo) to even more improve the preferential tax routines for funds, single household workplaces, and brought interest. This costs presents numerous essential improvements. It broadens the scope of funds qualified under the tax exemption routine to consist of pension funds, endowment funds, and particular funds-of-one. It likewise increases the kinds of certifying financial investments qualified for tax concessions for funds and single household workplaces, covering emission derivatives and allowances, insurance-linked securities, loans and personal credit financial investments, digital properties, rare-earth elements, and defined products. It likewise even more improves the tax concession plans for brought interest. These improvements are developed with a clear goal: to draw in an even higher concentration of international funds, alternative financial investment supervisors, and household workplaces to develop and broaden their long-lasting existence in Hong Kong. I am delighted to share that this costs is presently going through analysis by the Legislative Council’s Bills Committee, with the clause-by-clause evaluation currently finished. The Government targets to resume the 2nd reading dispute on the Bill by end of this year. Topic to passage by the LegCo, these improved, competitive tax concession steps will work beginning with the year of evaluation 2025/26.

Last month, the Chief Executive revealed the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which specified that, we are dedicated to promoting the advancement of our fund market by diversifying the series of possession classes under management and item offerings, consisting of varied possession management instruments such as alternative property funds and realty financial investment trusts (REITs), consequently deepening and widening our total property and wealth management abilities.

We will present a costs this year to allow the privatisation or restructuring of genuine estate financial investment trusts, followed by another costs in the very first half of 2027 to supply a stamp-duty waiver for the transfer of non-residential homes into REITs looking for a listing. Simultaneously, the SFC is improving its treatments to draw in premium abroad REITs for double listing in our market, and will modify appropriate codes next month to actively promote item development in fund items and widen financier options. We are likewise continuing our proactive efforts to look for the early addition of REITs under mutual-market gain access to plans.

Ladies and gentlemen, our dedication to the property management market is unfaltering and long term. We will continue to stroll hand in hand with the market, listening to your insights, improving our regulative and tax structure, and honing our one-upmanship as a world-leading worldwide possession and wealth management centre.

I want today’s AIMA APAC Annual Forum 2026 definite success, and I want all of our abroad and regional visitors a most fulfilling and motivating conference. Thank you.

Ends/Thursday, October 29, 2026

Provided at HKT 11:08

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