An annual survey found has more than three quarters of firms reporting stronger demand for new accounts in Hong Kong, while AI adoption and digital asset offerings expanded.

Private banking and private wealth management assets under management (AuM) in Hong Kong rose 24 per cent to a record HK$12.9 trillion (about US$1.65 trillion) in 2025, according to a report from the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) and KPMG. Net fund inflows climbed 79 per cent year-on-year.

The 11th edition of the Hong Kong Private Wealth Management Report found that 77 per cent of firms saw higher demand for new accounts and asset booking in the city, up from 59 per cent a year earlier. None reported a decline. Some 94 per cent were moderately or highly optimistic about the market’s prospects over the next five years.

The pace has quickened. The previous edition reported AuM up 15 per cent to HK$10.4 trillion in 2024, with net inflows up 13 per cent. The PWMA, founded in 2013, is the industry body for Hong Kong’s private banks and wealth managers.

The figures follow Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth Report 2026, published in May, which found Hong Kong had overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border booking centre for the first time. BCG put Hong Kong’s cross-border wealth at $2.95 trillion at the end of 2025, narrowly ahead of Switzerland’s $2.94 trillion. Hong Kong’s cross-border assets grew 10.7 per cent, against 7.6 per cent for Switzerland, driven by mainland Chinese inflows and a revival in IPO activity.

Some 79 per cent of respondents said Greater Bay Area initiatives would be critical or moderately important to their offshore Hong Kong business over the next five years. Firms also cited the Wealth Management Connect regime linking the mainland to Hong Kong and Macao as a business catalyst. Some 91 per cent backed wider access to STAR Market and ChiNext shares for qualified professional investors. The same proportion said they were increasing their focus on next-generation clients.

Digital asset activity has picked up following greater regulatory clarity. The share of firms actively developing a digital asset trading platform, product range or custody service rose to 25 per cent from 16 per cent. A further 13 per cent already offer such services and 28 per cent plan to invest within two to three years. Some 43 per cent have added crypto exchange-traded funds or products, and 17 per cent have launched or distributed tokenised products.

AI adoption has also accelerated. Some 88 per cent of firms reported moderate or significant progress in adopting AI, generative AI or agentic AI, up from 56 per cent a year earlier. Most applications, however, still speed up existing tasks rather than redesign operating models.

“Relationship managers still spend too much time on work that takes them away from those conversations,” said Jia Ning Song, head of banking and capital markets, Hong Kong SAR, at KPMG China. “Success should not be measured by how many tools we deploy, but by how much more time our people can devote to clients.”

Competition within Asia remains intense. BCG expects both Hong Kong and Singapore to grow cross-border wealth by around 9 per cent a year to 2030, against about 6 per cent for Switzerland.