The shift is driven by a desire for multi-jurisdictional resilience. Many families are no longer relying on a single banking domicile, choosing instead to maintain their core structures in Europe or the U.S. while establishing satellite operations in Singapore. This trend is backed by significant growth; at DBS, the number of trust structures surged 77% year-on-year in 2025/2026, with over SGD 1 billion in client assets now held within the bank's multi-family-office Variable Capital Company (VCC) structure.
Lee Woon Shiu, Group Head of Wealth Planning, Family Office & Insurance Solutions at DBS, notes that this migration is not merely about asset diversification. In Asia, private and corporate capital remain deeply intertwined. Consequently, Singapore acts as both a vault for private wealth and a strategic base for the international expansion of family-run operating businesses. For these families, success depends on moving beyond outdated formulas and integrating the next generation into governance early.
Modern wealth management is also adapting to the priorities of younger heirs, who increasingly demand exposure to sustainability, digital assets, and impact investing. By utilizing platforms like the DBS Digital Exchange, the bank now manages assets ranging from tokenized holdings to traditional trusts. This holistic approach, which treats insurance and governance as essential risk management tools rather than isolated silos, has become the new standard for preserving intergenerational legacies in a volatile macroeconomic environment.
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