Horizons Ventures, the family office of the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is opening an office in Singapore, reported Bloomberg News.
The new office, which will be the firm’s first office outside of Hong Kong, is expected to help the firm find new deals and expand support for portfolio companies eyeing expansion in Asia.
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It follows the Horizons plan to accelerate deals across Asia.
The Singapore office will have at least 10 staff, including portfolio curator Jeffrey Ho and senior investment manager Jacky Li, who will be responsible for deal execution.
Horizons’s Singapore expansion comes as several investors cease their Hong Kong operations, or expand outside the city amid tough Covid-19 related restrictions and stringent national security laws.
However, the firm said that its decision to set up the Singapore office was driven by the city’s advantages as a regional hub for investors and expansion.
Horizons Venture Adelaide-based portfolio curator Chris Liu said: “We have about 23 investments across the region and operating out of this hub actually becomes pretty important because everyone is here.
“Building a hub out of Singapore and helping our companies create and identify strategic opportunities and partnerships into the South East Asian region makes total sense.”
Liu also said that the firm is currently seeking hiring and investment opportunities in Singapore.
Ka-shing co-founded Horizons Ventures with long-time confidante Solina Chau.
The firm is said to be the latest in a line of family offices expanding their presence to Singapore, seeking to take advantage of lower taxes, and relative safety in the region.
In October last year, Wealth Management Institute established a new family office network to support the growth of family offices in Singapore.
The same month, Bloomberg reported that Oppenheimer Generations, the family office of former De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer, was opening a Singapore office to tap the increasing affluence in the Asian region.
