Singapore family office setup

• Section 13O Scheme — minimum S$20M AUM in Designated Investments at application (S$10M with a two-year ramp permitted), at least one qualifying Investment Professional (IP) employed by the Singapore family office in a substantive role, and a minimum local investment deployment floor of 10% of AUM or S$10M, whichever is lower. The scheme suits family offices in the S$20M–S$50M AUM band running a single-portfolio-manager investment style.
• Section 13U Scheme — the enhanced tier for larger fund vehicles. The practical 13U entry point sits around S$50M minimum fund size with at least three qualifying Investment Professionals and S$0.5M to S$1M annual local business spending depending on fund size. Specific thresholds for single-family-office (SFO) applicants are confirmed by MAS on a case-by-case basis at application stage; the published anchors should be treated as planning baselines rather than fixed entitlements.

1. Pre-incorporation structuring — fund vehicle and family office (manager) entity separated cleanly from day one to keep scheme eligibility clean.
2. Singapore Pte Ltd incorporation for both entities; constitution drafting reflecting multi-generational family governance.
3. Local investment professional sourcing and onboarding — typically the longest critical-path item; MAS expects evidence of substantive role, not nominal employment.
4. Corporate banking introduction with a Singapore private banking team, including source-of-funds preparation aligned to the MAS application narrative.
5. MAS Tax Incentives Division application packet — AUM substantiation, qualifying IP documentation, local investment plan, business spending plan, source-of-wealth narrative.
6. Coordination with the family's tax adviser on the Foreign-Sourced Income Exemption interaction with the 13O / 13U incentive scope.
7. Ongoing compliance — annual declaration to MAS covering AUM, IP headcount, local business spending, and local investment compliance; framework refresh tracking; renewal preparation.

A well-prepared 13O application reaches MAS approval in three to five months from packet submission, depending on MAS load and source-of-wealth follow-ups. 13U applications typically run longer — five to seven months — because the larger structure invites more diligence on staffing, spending, and the investment plan. Pre-application engagement (incorporation, qualifying IP hire, banking) typically takes a further three months when run in parallel; for clients arriving without a Singapore footprint, the realistic end-to-end window is six to ten months.

13O / 13U are tax incentive schemes, not residence pathways. The schemes confer concessionary tax treatment on the family office structure's income and gains; they do not, on their own, grant Singapore Permanent Residence to the family principal. Where residence is part of the brief, the principal typically pursues a parallel Global Investor Programme Option C application — same family office structure, separate EDB-administered approval. GIP Option C requires S$200M AUM under its SFO route — an order of magnitude above 13O's S$20M AUM floor. See Global Investor Programme.

SFO and MFO are different regulatory animals. A Single Family Office (SFO) managing the assets of a single family group is exempt from licensing under paragraph 5(1)(b), Second Schedule, Securities and Futures (Licensing and Conduct of Business) Regulations, as articulated in the 2023 MAS-IRAS SFO framework. A Multi-Family Office (MFO) serving multiple unrelated family groups is generally a regulated activity requiring a Capital Markets Services licence. ALG's 13O / 13U practice covers SFOs; MFO licensing is a different conversation.

ALG is not the fund manager. ALG provides structuring, MAS application, and compliance support. The qualifying investment professional must be employed by the family office entity itself or, where the family retains an external fund manager, by a separately licensed manager. Sister entity Anlian Capital Pte Ltd holds CMS101702 and can act in the licensed-manager role; that engagement sits under a different regulatory perimeter and a separate engagement letter.

ALG provides 13O and 13U advisory and application support for SFO clients across multi-generational family contexts including HK, mainland China, Indonesia, and broader Asia-Pacific. Anlian Group has been operating since 2018; the ACRA Filing Agent licence (FA20200346) was granted in 2020. Specific engagement texture and outcomes are shared under engagement letter, not on the public site.

See the article 13O vs 13U: Which Singapore Family Office Scheme Fits Your AUM Range? and the case study HK Family Office: Relocating a 13O Structure to Singapore Within 90 Days.

Closely related pillars: Global Investor Programme (GIP) (Option C overlap with SFO) and Accounting & Tax Planning (FSIE interaction with the 13O / 13U incentive scope).

Family office engagements always begin with a strategy call. The 13O vs 13U decision, the parallel GIP question, and the source-of-wealth diagnostic are themselves substantial conversations that should happen before any proposal is exchanged.

Schedule a Strategy Call → or Request a proposal →