Shareholders of mainland Chinese companies are showing increasing interest in setting up family offices in Hong Kong after their initial public offerings amid a swelling pipeline of new listings in the city, according to an asset manager overseeing up to US$2 billion in wealth.
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“This week alone, I have met two clients inquiring about family office services and tonight I am meeting another – lots of overtime,” said Wang Fengyu, founder and chairman of Hong Kong-based Oakwise Capital, in an interview on Wednesday.
With a US$100 million minimum threshold of entry for its multifamily office services, the firm – established in 2021 – served 10 clients, managing a total of US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion. Around 70 per cent of these clients were shareholders of Hong Kong-listed companies with market capitalisations of HK$5 billion (US$637 million) to HK$50 billion.
Wang noted a rise in demand from such clients over the past year, a trend he expected to continue with a growing number of mainland companies lining up for share sales.
The city’s bourse has hosted 50 listings, raising a total of US$15.8 billion as of July 16. Of those, 44 firms hailed from the mainland, accounting for most of the funds raised, according to data provided by the London Stock Exchange Group.
Among this year’s major deals were electric vehicle battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) with a US$5.2 billion share sale and pharmaceutical firm Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals’ US$1.26 billion offering. CATL’s market capitalisation surged to US$165.6 billion, while the drug maker’s stood at US$53.6 billion, according to data from Bloomberg.
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