Wealthy Chinese ex-pats not investing in Singapore

The lack of new business investments from wealthy Chinese émigrés who have moved to Singapore following the country’s tax emption laws, is becoming a bone of contention.

As the drinks business has reported, Singapore is being touted as the “new Hong Kong” and is unequivocally the country to watch in the Asia-Pacific market.

Now the third most significant financial hub in the world, according to a recently-released survey by The City of London Corporation, Singapore is becoming an increasingly major player and a hotspot for doing business.

Drinks trade show Vinexpo Asia has moved its annual event to Singapore from Hong Kong for the first time this year (23-25 May), with the show’s organiser Rodolphe Lameyse telling db that the location change would help exhibitors “to reach a broader global marketplace.”

“Singapore stands out as an obvious choice for serving the interests of the entire Asia-Pacific region, and acts as a magnet, not only for Chinese clients, but also for Australians, South Koreans, Thais, Japanese and Vietnamese,” he said.

Similarly, John Geber, owner of Barossa Valley winery Château Tanunda, called Singapore “the shock absorber of Asia”, and told the drinks business:  “It’s all about financial mobility there. Capital flight is on!”

However, while Singapore is attracting more visitors to its shores, not all are happy about the contribution those guests are making to the local economy.

According to a report for Bloomberg by local correspondent David Ramli, a tax exemption programme designed to attract wealthy immigrants from overseas, largely China, was put in place in the hope that new arrivals would come with cash to spend, which would boost investment and spark a wave of employment in Singapore.

That reality has so far not materialised, with Chinese tycoons spending lavishly on property, cars and other signs of “conspicuous consumption”, while failing to invest in funds.

A senior executive at one of Singapore’s largest hedge funds described the tally of Chinese investments as one “big zero”, with precious little cash being invested in private equity firms.

Industry experts estimate the current number of ‘family offices’ based in Singapore to be around 1,400, with the lion’s share of these flocking from mainland China to set up shop. There is a further backlog of around 200 family offices applying for tax incentives in Singapore, which are pending approval.

Despite the buzz surrounding the country, Singapore’s total stock market value is still 10 times less than that of Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and Chinese investors are nervous about putting their money into an “unknown entity”.

“Singapore will never be the home market for Chinese investors and they’ll always invest in what they’re familiar with,” Lucy W Gao-Azak, Crossinvest (Asia) chief operating officer told Bloomberg. “Investors will rarely sacrifice and compromise performance of returns for any regional bias.”

As a result, last year Singapore changed the rules for family offices seeking tax exemptions, introducing higher minimum asset management standards and local investment requirements. But local discontent continues to fester…