Women's say in family businesses

ASIAN societies have taken great strides towards educating and offering opportunities to women. But when it comes to the often emotional issue of wealth succession and distribution, wealth owners may still favour sons over their daughters. Change, however, may well be taking root, particularly as the level of education rises among the younger generation, and family businesses evolve in terms of corporate governance.

On the issue of gender equity in the context of wealth planning, Lee Woon Shiu, Bank of Singapore managing director and head of wealth planning, trust and insurance, says it helps families to think of their capital in an enlarged sense, to cover not just financial but also intellectual and social capital.

"Sometimes there is a lot of bias where financial capital is still in favour of sons. But if you look at an expanded definition of wealth and legacy in terms of the family's capital, we perceive a gradual shift, where there is a more equal distribution of capital to other female family members. . . Asian families are starting to have their social and intellectual capital advised or addressed by women."