Irrespective of the scepticism over such rankings, they can offer an idea of how financial centres present themselves to the world.

A report by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank bangs the drum for Hong Kong as a family offices centre and as a financial hub more broadly. 

Ranked by “urban prosperity” on a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 being the highest possible score, Hong Kong scored 0.85, ahead of Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and Shanghai. On “legal framework,” it had a 0.91 score, with Singapore top at 0.98 and behind Sydney at 0.92. 

Financial centres are trying to stand out and attract HNW investors and the advisors who work with them – although a wealth influx can push up residential prices and labour costs, among other challenges.  

The figures come from the latest edition of Knight Frank's Rise of the Super Wealth Hub report series.

“Supported by a conducive regulatory environment and the government's proactive initiatives, the city's family office sector is thriving,” the report said. It cited a study by Deloitte in collaboration with FamilyOfficeHK, showing that Hong Kong is home to over 2,700 single-family offices as at the close of 2023. 

Hong Kong's wealth management sector boasts a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 per cent and is on track to surpass Switzerland by 2027, the report said. 

In early July, a separate report from Boston Consulting Group, said Hong Kong is in second place behind Switzerland as a cross-border centre, at $2.4 trillion last year, with an expected CAGR of 6 per cent; Singapore is third at $1.7 trillion (8.5 per cent); the US is fourth at $1.3 trillion (6.9 per cent); the UK mainland is fifth at $900 billion (3.8 per cent); the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are sixth at $700 billion (2.7 per cent); the United Arab Emirates is seventh at $600 billion (7.7 per cent); Luxembourg is eighth at $500 billion (4.6 per cent); the Cayman Islands are ninth at $400 billion (4.4 per cent); and the Bahamas are 10th at $400 billion (4.7 per cent).

Hong Kong is working to recover its bounce after the disruptions caused by Covid and associated lockdowns and controversy about the city’s continued absorption into the political system of mainland China. The US-based Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom no longer includes Hong Kong as a separate jurisdiction, for example. Hong Kong has sought to attract family offices and private capital and recently issued updates on its progress; it is also involved in the Wealth Connect cross-border financial regime designed to integrate wealth management across the Greater Bay Area. 

"Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, the city has witnessed significant growth in wealth among its residents,” Christine Li, head of research at Knight Frank Asia-Pacific, said. 

In its 2024 Wealth Report, Frank Knight said that Hong Kong's ultra-high net worth individual population rose 2.5 per cent, on a year before in 2023, reaching 5,957 individuals. 

The Knight Frank report said that the UHNW population could rise 22.4 per cent from the 2023 level, outpacing growth rates in Asian markets such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.