Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland for the first time as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub, US-based global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group said.

Cross-border wealth booked in Hong Kong rose 10.7 percent in 2025 to reach $2.9 trillion, driven by Chinese mainland capital inflows, strong initial public offering activity, and equity-market gains, according to BCG Global Wealth Report 2026.

“We are seeing wealth creation, cross-border capital flows, and investment ecosystems increasingly concentrate into a smaller number of globally connected hubs. Hong Kong’s rise reflects the growing gravitational pull of Asian wealth and capital markets,” said Michael Kahlich, a BCG managing director and partner and co-author of the report.

BCG’s analysis finds that cross-border wealth is increasingly consolidating into two global hub networks. One is anchored by Hong Kong and Singapore, serving Chinese mainland, Indian, and Southeast Asian capital. The other is anchored by Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom, serving European, Middle Eastern, and Latin American wealth.

The report noted that Singapore continues to strengthen its position as Asia’s most diversified offshore wealth center, benefiting from safe-haven flows and continued expansion of its wealth-management ecosystem. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates remains among the fastest-growing booking centers globally, with cross-border wealth rising 11 percent in 2025.

Cross-border wealth rose 8.4 percent globally to $15.7 trillion, with the top 10 booking centers capturing almost 90 percent of new offshore flows, the report added.

Despite ongoing trade tensions, tariff brinkmanship, and geopolitical instability, global financial wealth grew 10.7 percent in 2025 to reach $333 trillion, the fastest growth since 2021. Including real assets, global net wealth climbed to nearly $550 trillion, the report said.

The report identifies a broader restructuring underway across the global wealth-management industry, spanning geographic shifts, emerging-market wealth creation, intergenerational succession, and artificial intelligence-driven operating model transformation.

Responding to the report, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) explicitly supports Hong Kong in strengthening its function as an international asset and wealth management center, which is also a crucial part of Hong Kong’s “Finance+” development strategy.

“Over the past few years, the special administrative region and the financial industry have worked together to continuously improve the financial infrastructure and ecosystem, enrich investment products and risk management tools, and deepen connectivity with capital markets around the world.

“Hong Kong, with its free, open, transparent, and predictable economic policies, stable and secure investment environment, and cross-market connectivity, is attracting more and more ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices to establish themselves and invest in Hong Kong,” he said.

The finance chief added that Hong Kong’s asset and wealth management industry will have greater development space.

“Benefiting from the wealth growth brought about by the rapid development of technological innovation and AI-related industries, the demand for asset and wealth management in the Chinese mainland and Asia will accelerate,” Chan said.