Singapore cements position as Asia-Pacific wealth hub as region’s AUM set to hit US$34.5 trillion by 2030: PwC

[SINGAPORE] The Republic is strengthening its place as Asia-Pacific’s leading wealth hub as assets under management (AUM) in the region are set to reach US$34.5 trillion by 2030.

In its Asset and Wealth Management Revolution: Asia Pacific 2026 report, PwC said the region’s AUM will grow at a 6.8 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), outpacing North America (6.2 per cent) and Europe counterparts (5.6 per cent).

Total client assets are forecast to rise from US$107.2 trillion in 2024 to US$154.3 trillion by 2030.

As one of Asia-Pacific’s two largest international investment hubs alongside Hong Kong, Singapore currently hosts 8 per cent of global sovereign wealth fund assets and has US$4.6 trillion in AUM, reinforcing its role as a destination for high-net-worth (HNW) wealth.

Flows to the Republic from the region will continue to play a role, with Asia-Pacific HNW assets projected to reach US$52.4 trillion by 2030 with a CAGR of 6.9 per cent.

Private markets have also risen from 20.3 per cent of Asia-Pacific asset and wealth management revenues in 2012 to 55.4 per cent in 2024. They are projected to rise to 59.5 per cent or US$99.8 billion by 2030.

However, Asia-Pacific asset and wealth managers currently manage less than a quarter of regional client assets, compared with nearly 40 per cent in Europe and nearly 60 per cent in North America, underlining the scale of the untapped opportunity.

Tokenisation efforts

On digital assets, Singapore is emerging as a test bed for tokenised fund structures.

It is looking to take tokenisation from pilot to commercial deployment, through the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian. This is a collaborative initiative between policymakers and the financial industry to enhance liquidity and efficiency of financial markets through asset tokenisation. The initiative now spans over 40 institutions across seven jurisdictions.

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This would be done alongside the Guardian Wholesale Network, the country’s stablecoin regime and planned trials for the issuance and settlement of tokenised MAS bills using central bank digital currencies.

“Singapore’s role in Asia-Pacific asset and wealth management is being shaped by structural advantages,” said Paul Pak, Asia-Pacific and Singapore asset and wealth management leader at PwC Singapore.

These include a deep sovereign wealth base, a progressive regulatory environment helping define tokenised finance, deepening capital markets, and a tax and fund structuring ecosystem built for cross-border capital, he added.

“Asia-Pacific’s growth story is clear. The competitive question is which firms have the strategic clarity, operating model and capital discipline to convert that growth into durable advantage, and from which platform they will compete. For a growing number of regional and global managers, that platform is Singapore,” he said.