Key Takeaways
- • Markets Group's Sidelines team captured candid remarks from Singapore family office leaders at its 7th Annual Family Office and Private Wealth Asia Forum, held May 14, 2026, which convened 160 family offices, wealth managers and private bankers.
- • Tsao Family Office CEO Bryan Goh said artificial intelligence now runs through every allocation discussion, portfolio review and sector thesis, making it a decision lens rather than a thematic sleeve.
- • ESSEC economist and Singapore MP Jamus Lim argued that the structural advantage is shifting toward Asia, citing demographics, information flows and rising financial inflows into the region.
- • Hong Leong Bank's Jeffrey Yap urged clients to reduce long US equity exposure, favoring emerging market equities in North and Southeast Asia, higher private markets allocations, infrastructure and real estate, and noted gold has outperformed MSCI World over 30 years.
- • A recurring theme across the forum was how to reduce US-concentrated portfolios without giving up the growth that built family wealth.
Summary
Singapore family office investors are repositioning their portfolios, according to Markets Group, which reported candid remarks from leaders attending its Sidelines programme at the Family Office and Private Wealth Asia Forum on May 14, 2026. Attendees included representatives of DBS, Bank of Singapore, HSBC, UBS, Tsao Family Office and Blauwpark Partners. The sessions were closed-door and invitation-only, and Markets Group did not publish the session content itself, only the Sidelines interviews. One tension surfaced in nearly every conversation: how to step away from a US-concentrated portfolio without surrendering the growth that built these fortunes.
Bryan Goh, Chief Executive Officer of Tsao Family Office, drew on three decades of multi-asset experience to say that artificial intelligence has permeated every industry discussion, allocation debate and portfolio review. For a single-family office investing across traditional and alternative assets, he framed AI as the lens through which other decisions are now made rather than a thematic allocation to weigh.
Jamus Lim, Associate Professor of Economics at ESSEC Business School, Member of Parliament in Singapore and former Lead Economist at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, described a two-horizon outlook. In the short term, he said the U.S. has been notably shielded from global conflict while other economies diverge sharply. Over the longer term, he expects Asia to capture medium- and long-term trends, including changing demographics, expanding information flows and a rising tide of financial flows into the region. He also highlighted Singapore's position as home to both large institutional investors and a deep base of family offices.
Jeffrey Yap, Regional Head of Wealth Management at Hong Leong Bank Berhad, offered a more cautious view, pointing to Middle East tensions and persistently high oil prices as reasons for clients to move beyond long US equity exposure. He recommended broadening into emerging market equities across North and Southeast Asia, increasing private market allocations, and investing in infrastructure and real estate. Yap also made the case for gold, noting it has outperformed MSCI World over 30 years and arguing it merits a larger allocation amid converging inflation, rate and oil concerns.
Steven Li, Partner at Blauwpark Partners, described the forum's value as peer intelligence, saying his priority was to gauge the room, listen at roundtables and understand what other allocators are excited about and what priorities they hold. For a multi-family office, he said, that intelligence informs how the firm can help its clients.
Taken together, the remarks point to allocators moving away from a crowded US trade toward regions and asset classes they know best, including Asian equities, private markets, infrastructure and gold. The forum's speakers and attendees signalled that these shifts are happening now rather than in a future cycle.
Bryan Goh, Chief Executive Officer of Tsao Family Office, drew on three decades of multi-asset experience to say that artificial intelligence has permeated every industry discussion, allocation debate and portfolio review. For a single-family office investing across traditional and alternative assets, he framed AI as the lens through which other decisions are now made rather than a thematic allocation to weigh.
Jamus Lim, Associate Professor of Economics at ESSEC Business School, Member of Parliament in Singapore and former Lead Economist at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, described a two-horizon outlook. In the short term, he said the U.S. has been notably shielded from global conflict while other economies diverge sharply. Over the longer term, he expects Asia to capture medium- and long-term trends, including changing demographics, expanding information flows and a rising tide of financial flows into the region. He also highlighted Singapore's position as home to both large institutional investors and a deep base of family offices.
Jeffrey Yap, Regional Head of Wealth Management at Hong Leong Bank Berhad, offered a more cautious view, pointing to Middle East tensions and persistently high oil prices as reasons for clients to move beyond long US equity exposure. He recommended broadening into emerging market equities across North and Southeast Asia, increasing private market allocations, and investing in infrastructure and real estate. Yap also made the case for gold, noting it has outperformed MSCI World over 30 years and arguing it merits a larger allocation amid converging inflation, rate and oil concerns.
Steven Li, Partner at Blauwpark Partners, described the forum's value as peer intelligence, saying his priority was to gauge the room, listen at roundtables and understand what other allocators are excited about and what priorities they hold. For a multi-family office, he said, that intelligence informs how the firm can help its clients.
Taken together, the remarks point to allocators moving away from a crowded US trade toward regions and asset classes they know best, including Asian equities, private markets, infrastructure and gold. The forum's speakers and attendees signalled that these shifts are happening now rather than in a future cycle.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.