A new law, which came into effect Tuesday, encourages asset managers to domicile their funds in Singapore by allowing the creation of a single structure to hold a pool of assets and multiple sub-funds, and offering greater confidentiality.
The move is part of government efforts to build on Singapore’s traditional strength as a financial centre and reduce the economy’s reliance on more volatile sectors such as trade. The city’s asset-management industry grew more than 5% to S$3.4 trillion in 2018, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The new law, known as the Variable Capital Companies Act, is “another salvo in the island republic’s efforts to further promote Singapore as both an asset-management and fund-domicile hub,” said Daniel Yong, a partner at law firm Withers KhattarWong LLP.