Private Wealth

Our Private Wealth Industry Group is the go-to firm for fully integrated legal services for high-net-worth (HNW) individuals and families.

As the ranks of the wealthy grow in an increasingly global and digital economy, there remain challenges, which range from evolving family investment strategies and regularly changing tax regimes, to more sophisticated family governance requirements and changing immigration laws.

Yet the COVID-19 pandemic also brought about a seismic shift in the attitudes, perspectives, and approaches of the HNW individuals and families vis-à-vis wealth management. This emphasises their need to look more closely at trusts, wills, lasting powers of attorney, estate and succession planning, as well as wealth preservation.

Our Private Wealth team comprises of partners from across practice areas as we believe that a firm should know their HNW clients intimately in order to best serve their legal needs. From legacy planning to commercial dealings, our team comprises partners from the areas of corporate, real estate, trusts and trusts disputes together with the private wealth specialists. Collaboration with our ASEAN Plus Offices and RHT Group of Companies is key for this to happen.

The domain of Private Wealth is becoming more and more sophisticated with increasingly discerning clients. To meet the clients’ requirements, we have set up specialisation areas:

  • Fintech & Digital Assets: Amid the volatile commodities, bonds and equities markets, and with the rise of fintech and blockchain, the HNW clients are increasingly looking at cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as alternative investments.
  • Philanthropy & Art Law: We recognise the importance of charity and art in the Private Wealth industry group and has established expertise in both Art Law and Philanthropy Practice. Our Philanthropy practice is recognised as an eminent team in Singapore. Our involvement begins with helping clients establish the structure that best suits their charitable objects and purposes, setting up the board, committees and reporting mechanisms, and working with them to put in place policies and procedures based on relevant regulations and principles of good governance.
  • Tax: Tax regimes are increasingly becoming more complex and highly regulated. With the advent of tax transparency and exchange of tax information, heightened regulatory and media scrutiny is the new norm for all taxpayers. Also, in the area of private wealth, family units and private assets often span multiple jurisdictions. We understand the need for proper planning to mitigate tax risks and compliance burdens across borders.
  • Family Office: The impact of geopolitical factors globally results in the increased flow of wealth into Asia which leads to the demands in setting up family offices. The services include asset management, book-keeping, legal advisory, lifestyle and office administration services. For families with a wide range of investments and possibly also substantial loan financings, it can be invaluable to have a central depository entity for management, record keeping and monitoring/advisory services.

We are the founding member of the ASEAN Plus Group (APG). APG is a group of full-service and well-established law firms in Asia. The group functions as a bridge for our clients to venture regionally with confidence. APG provides clients direct access to 16 lucrative markets in the region, including Singapore, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. We were awarded Tier 2 ranking in Legal500’s 2020 and 2021 editions for Private Wealth. This well-deserved and hard-earned award is truly a mark of recognition and endorsement from external stakeholders and other players within the Private Wealth industry.

To further address the increasing sophistication and to meet wide-ranging needs of clients in this space, we have created 12 sub-groups within the Private Wealth Industry Group and these are headed by dedicated Partners and Consultants with the relevant legal expertise and skills.

These 12 sub-groups are:

  1. Family Offices
  2. Regulatory & Corporate Compliance
  3. Financial Services
  4. Funds & Investments
  5. Digital Assets Services
  6. Trust, Estate & Commercial Disputes Resolution
  7. Tax Solutions
  8. Succession Planning & Estate Planning (including wills, trusts & probate)
  9. Philanthropy (Art & Education)
  10. Matrimonial, Custody & Assets Dispute Resolution
  11. Immigration & Residency
  12. Concierge/Ancillary Services

Key Contacts

Senior Partner
Co-Head of Industry Group

Partner
Co-Head of Industry Group

Partner

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