Family office, beyond the rule book.

Three of the six ALG pillars carry most family engagements. The fourth and fifth (incorporation, corporate secretary) appear inside the family office setup as sub-steps; the sixth (work visa) is rarely the right entry point for a HNW principal — the residence question for a principal is usually GIP, not Employment Pass.

• Family Office (Section 13O / 13U) — Single Family Office structuring and MAS application support. Section 13O suits family offices in the S$20M–S$50M AUM band; Section 13U is the enhanced tier for larger fund vehicles. ALG provides advisory, structuring, MAS Tax Incentives Division application packet, and ongoing compliance support — investment management is performed by the family's own qualifying Investment Professional or, where a licensed manager is retained, by sister entity Anlian Capital (CMS101702) under a separate engagement.
• Global Investor Programme (GIP) — Where residence is part of the brief, GIP runs in parallel with the family office setup. Option C (Single Family Office route) requires S$200M AUM and is typically pursued together with a 13U structure on the investment vehicle. ALG provides end-to-end advisory and case preparation; submission is coordinated via EDB-designated agents.
• Accounting & Tax — The tax architecture around the operating, holding, and fund layers needs to be tax-clean and documentary-evidenced. We coordinate the FSIE (s.13(8) / s.13(9) / s.13(12) ITA) interaction with the 13O / 13U incentive scope, principal's personal tax residency planning, and the year-five renewal evidence that MAS examines.

Sub-services that appear inside a family engagement but are not standalone entry points: Incorporation (Pte Ltd setup for both manager and fund vehicle), Corporate Secretary (statutory cadence for both entities), and Permanent Residence (where family members not eligible for GIP pursue PR via the standard pathway).

1. Diagnostic call — current jurisdiction, family composition (principal, spouse, children, dependants), portfolio mix, AUM scale, residence intent, prior advisor relationships. Thirty minutes, no pitch. We confirm fit before quoting.
2. Scheme selection — 13O vs 13U positioning, with reasoning documented. Where AUM sits in the S$50M+ band but the family prefers 13O's lighter staffing requirements, we map the trade-offs explicitly.
3. Residence integration — whether the principal pursues GIP (Option A direct, Option B fund, or Option C SFO), or whether a family member pursues a parallel PR route. The decision affects the family office structure timeline.
4. Source-of-wealth and structure narrative — preparation of the documentation MAS and EDB scrutinise most closely. Clean, defensible, internally consistent across both regulators' eyes.
5. Implementation and ongoing compliance — Singapore Pte Ltd setup for manager + fund vehicle, qualifying Investment Professional onboarding, banking introduction with a Singapore private banking team, year-one annual declaration to MAS covering AUM / IP headcount / local business spending / local investment compliance.

Three patterns describe most engagements. They differ in starting jurisdiction, residence intent, and whether the family already has a structured family office.

• The HK or mainland China family relocating the family office to Singapore. The family office may already exist in HK under a different incentive regime, or it may be assets held directly without a formal vehicle. Engagement covers 13O / 13U scheme selection, GIP Option C parallel application where the principal seeks Singapore residence, and the unwinding sequencing of the prior jurisdiction's presence. Cross-border tax interaction between the two jurisdictions is the most-scrutinised element.
• The Indonesian or broader APAC family looking for a regional consolidation point. Family wealth is distributed across operating businesses, holdings, and personal investments in multiple jurisdictions. Singapore becomes the consolidation layer — 13U for the larger fund vehicle, 13O for sub-structures where appropriate, principal residence via GIP Option C or B. The conversation is about getting the architecture right before any single piece is committed.
• The next-generation transition. The principal's Singapore family office exists, but governance is shifting to the next generation, or the AUM has grown past 13O thresholds and a 13U upgrade is on the table. Engagement covers governance refresh (multi-generational decision rights, dispute mechanisms, distribution policy), 13O-to-13U restructuring where applicable, and renewal preparation against the year-five MAS evidence base.

For the AUM-based decision between 13O and 13U specifically, see 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. For HNW personal-tax structuring at the principal level, see Singapore Tax Optimization for HNW Individuals and Family Office Structures (2026).

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

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