The scale of private wealth management in Hong Kong reached a new high of HK$12.9 trillion, and the deployment of digital assets and AI accelerated

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) and KPMG China jointly released the latest research on the “Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Annual Report 2026”. Research shows that in 2025, the asset management scale (AUM) of private banking and private wealth management industries increased by 24%, hitting a new high of HK$12.9 trillion, and net capital inflows increased 79% at the same time. According to the report, 77% of the institutions surveyed said that the demand for customers to open new accounts and allocate assets in Hong Kong increased, up from 59% last year, and no institutions indicated a decline in demand.

The interviewees pointed out that measures such as “Cross-border Wealth Management Connect”, deepening connectivity in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and broadening market access all help provide customers with more investment opportunities while maintaining sound supervision and investor protection. About 79% of the agencies surveyed said that development plans related to the Greater Bay Area will be critical or moderately important to Hong Kong's offshore business over the next five years.

The industry also generally supports expanding connectivity in the investment sector. 91% of the surveyed institutions support allowing qualified professional investors to invest more widely in the shares of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange GEM. The report points out that increasing the number of regulated investment options will help further strengthen Hong Kong's position as a gateway between mainland China and international capital markets.

Over the past year, the proportion of surveyed institutions actively developing digital asset trading platforms, product ecosystems, or custodian services increased from 16% to 25%. Another 13% of the institutions surveyed have provided relevant services, while 28% plan to make related investments in the next two to three years, indicating that the industry is continuing to strengthen its layout in the digital asset field. Product innovation also showed significant growth. 43% of the institutions surveyed have added cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or exchange-traded products (ETPs), and 17% have launched or distributed tokenized products. It can be seen that digital assets are gradually being integrated into the mainstream investment market.

The application of artificial intelligence in the private wealth management industry continues to expand, and more and more institutions are applying related technology to actual business. According to the report, 88% of surveyed institutions said they have made moderate or significant progress in adopting artificial intelligence, generative artificial intelligence, or proxy artificial intelligence technology, which is a marked increase from 56% last year.