‘Your capital is safe’ in Hong Kong, financial secretary reassures family offices

The China-US tariff war underscores Hong Kong’s soundness as a stable destination for wealthy families’ investments, Paul Chan says

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Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po speaks at the Deutsche Bank Emerging Markets Family Office Forum in Hong Kong on April 16, 2025. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:00pm, 16 Apr 2025

“Your capital is safe” in Hong Kong, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told wealthy families on Wednesday as he sought to reassure them that Hong Kong is a premier destination for capital investment amid the raging trade war.

The so-called reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US on its trading partners underscored Hong Kong’s soundness as a destination for family offices because of its stability, Chan said at Deutsche Bank’s emerging markets family office forum in Hong Kong.

“Much has been said about the flip-flopping of the Trump administration and the prospects of the tariff war,” he said. “For family offices, this uncertainty and unpredictability have added new complexities to their asset-allocation strategies.”

Family offices – corporations established by wealthy individuals or families to pursue investment, philanthropy and succession planning – value a secure and predictable investment environment, Chan said. In this way they are the same as sovereign governments and investors across the world, who have been seeking to de-risk asset allocations and diversify to markets that provide policy clarity, consistency and credibility.

“Hong Kong stands out as a robust destination of choice” based on these factors, he said.

Over the past week, the Hong Kong stock market had an average daily turnover of around HK$360 billion (US$46.4 billion), about 2.8 times that in 2024. Chan said this showcased strong underlying liquidity and investor confidence in the market.

“It’s been a very tough April, but year-to-date is still up for [stock indexes in] both Hong Kong and mainland China, and also additional stimulus could come to counter trade tensions,” Tai Hui, chief market strategist for Asia-Pacific at JPMorgan Asset Management, said in a media briefing on Wednesday. “That, to me, is one reason to stay invested in China.”