Singapore set to eclipse Switzerland as world’s financial hub

Singapore

Financial analysts have predicted that Singapore is poised to overtake Switzerland as a global finance hub.

Singapore currently has the world's highest concentration of wealthy individuals, with around 150,000 high-net-worth individuals, each worth more than $1million, residing in the country.

Now, predictions are rife that Asia’s banking sector is set for a huge expansion, fuelled by this fleet of wealthy people.

The first ten years of the millennium saw the total assets managed in Singapore's wealth management and private banking sector go up 11-fold, and high net individuals now make up just under three percent of Singapore’s population.

Over the same period of time Singapore's finance industry has swelled, with around 9,600 skilled expat professionals joining the industry, says Singapore’s minister of state for manpower, Tan Chuan-Jin.

Chuan-Jin cited the ever-growing number of expat employment passes issued to foreigner workers as a sign of Singapore's development as a financial hub.

As a result of these significant movements, analysts predict Singapore could surpass Switzerland as the world's largest offshore financial centre soon as 2015.

It is thought to be an inevitable development as the number of HNWI grows in the Asia-Pacific area more global clients will move their offshore funds in to Singapore.

With the eurozone experiencing continuing money malaise, Switzerland could see its standing falter, while Singapore, and the rest of Asia, is experiencing a contrasting boom.