Amid an increasingly fragmented and complex global landscape, ultra-high-net-worth clients are rethinking how they manage wealth, businesses and succession across jurisdictions and generations.
Asia’s rise as a center for wealth creation and entrepreneurship is reshaping how ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients and families deploy capital, particularly as they seek exposure to faster-growing economies and new investment opportunities. Drawn to the region’s diverse markets and long-term growth opportunities, wealthy families from Europe, the Middle East and the United States have turned to Asia to establish a second base, deepening their engagement not only through investments but also as a gateway for business expansion and longer-term strategic partnerships.
This comes as global wealth continues to expand rapidly. According to The Wealth Report 2025 by Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank, the number of high-net-worth individuals globally grew by 4.4% in 2024 to more than 2.3 million and is projected to rise by another 28.1% by 2028.
But opportunity also brings greater complexity. As businesses, assets and family members are spread across multiple jurisdictions, wealthy families and clients today require integrated advice across both their personal and business wealth. At the same time, these globally mobile entrepreneurs expect digital access, personalized insights and timely execution at their fingertips.
For DBS Private Bank, anticipating these shifts has shaped its strategy well ahead of the curve.
Joseph Poon, Group Head of DBS Private Bank.
DBS
“We recognized early that the private banking client of the future would be far more global, entrepreneurial and digitally engaged. That meant investing ahead of demand and building world-first capabilities such as DBS MFO Foundry VCC and DBS Digital Exchange early on,” says Joseph Poon, Group Head of DBS Private Bank.
Alongside these platforms, the bank has also spent the last decade building an integrated “phygital” platform that combines AI-powered capabilities with human advisory to deliver personalized insights and solutions. But beyond technology and investment platforms, Poon believes the bank’s differentiation lies in recognizing that wealthy clients often require far more than traditional wealth management services.
“About 70% of our private banking clients are also business owners, so their personal and business wealth needs are deeply interconnected,” explains Poon. “Our ‘One Bank’ approach helps clients tap into the expertise of our capital markets and institutional banking teams through a single touchpoint—be it for strategic advice and solutions, financing or even bespoke investment opportunities.”
That thinking has helped DBS become a preferred partner for wealth clients around the world, earning the trust of clients across more than 120 markets. In addition, the bank also garnered global recognition. In March 2026, DBS became the first Asia-headquartered bank to win Euromoney’s prestigious “World’s Best Private Bank” accolade in the award’s 22-year history. It also received the “World’s Safest Private Bank” and “World’s Best for Digital Assets” awards.
“These accolades reflect the franchise we have built over many years, one that is architected around the evolving needs of global entrepreneurs and multi-generational families,” says Poon.
Serving the Needs of UHNW Families Around the World
Family offices have become a growing priority for UHNW clients seeking more structured ways to manage assets, governance and succession planning. As an international financial center and a key gateway into Asia, Singapore has emerged as one of the world’s leading hubs for family offices. By the end of 2024, there were more than 2,000 single-family offices established in Singapore, with DBS serving about one-third of them.
To meet rising demand, the bank launched the world’s first bank-backed multi-family office (DBS MFO) leveraging Singapore’s Variable Capital Company structure in 2023. DBS MFO offers families a convenient way to manage wealth in Singapore without having to set up their own single-family office, while providing access to investment management, trade execution and custody services through a single integrated platform.
DBS has since onboarded many clients, underscoring strong demand for more flexible yet institutional-style wealth structuring solutions and attracting selected global UHNW clients to the platform.
“We were also able to provide bespoke investment solutions for DBS MFO clients by leveraging the structuring capabilities of our Global Financial Markets team,” says Poon. “For instance, a number of our UHNW clients were able to diversify their onshore wealth exposure through a customized offshore investment portfolio via our VCC structure.”
Leveraging the Digital Strengths of the World’s Best Private Bank
Client expectations around how they access and manage wealth are shifting rapidly, particularly among younger and more globally connected investors. Anticipating this change early, DBS began investing heavily in digitalization more than a decade ago. Today, more than 90% of its wealth clients actively use its digiWealth platform.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has since been thoughtfully integrated across areas such as client servicing, investment insights and risk monitoring to help clients respond more quickly and confidently to changing market conditions, while complementing the high-touch, personalized service they value.
Its digital leadership also extends into new assets. DBS was an early mover in digital assets, an area attracting growing interest from younger entrepreneurs and next-generation wealthy individuals.
In 2021, the bank launched the DBS Digital Exchange, creating the world’s first bank-backed platform for the trading and custody of tokenized digital assets alongside traditional investments. Subsequently, DBS Trustee became the world’s first bank-backed trust structure capable of holding cryptocurrencies as part of legacy planning.
Demand for private market investments and alternative assets has also risen sharply in recent years, with DBS clients’ holdings in private assets increasing fivefold over the past five years.
These capabilities are becoming more relevant as younger wealth holders look beyond wealth creation. According to Poon, one client in his 30s, who built significant wealth through cryptocurrency trading, began thinking more seriously about long-term wealth preservation and succession planning after becoming a father. DBS subsequently helped structure a trust for him, with his digital assets placed under the trust arrangement.
“We are seeing younger clients think about wealth very differently from previous generations. They are more global, more digitally native and more open to alternative assets. But at the same time, they are also thinking earlier about legacy and how to protect wealth for the long term,” explains Poon.
A One Bank Offering That Meets Both Your Wealth and Business Needs
For wealthy families from Europe, the U.S. and across Asia, Poon believes DBS’ strength lies in its ability to connect clients not only to bespoke investment opportunities but also to the region’s broader business ecosystem and on-the-ground networks.
This has reinforced DBS’ “One Bank” approach, which allows clients to manage personal wealth, business financing, investment opportunities, succession planning and family office constructs more seamlessly. It also gives them access to institutional-style opportunities and financing solutions that would traditionally sit outside private banking relationships.
For instance, the bank’s Equity Capital Markets team has advised a UHNW client on his company’s IPO and dual-listing strategy. Another client with a public market portfolio valued at more than US$500 million benefited from a bespoke total return swap transaction executed by the bank’s Global Financial Markets team—a solution typically used by institutional clients.
“Helping clients grow and preserve their wealth will always remain important. But increasingly, clients also want a banking partner that can support their businesses, family offices and long-term ambitions together. Our wealth and institutional businesses at DBS are well integrated, and when combined with our strong track record of collaboration for the benefit of our clients, they create a differentiated wealth proposition,” says Poon.
Building for the Next Gen
Looking ahead, Poon believes the next phase of private banking will be shaped by founders and families juggling far more moving parts than before—from operating businesses and global investments to succession planning and impact investing.
“These next-gen clients are inheriting and building at the same time. They are navigating a much more complex environment, where geopolitics, supply chains and market shifts can affect both their personal and business wealth simultaneously. The ones who manage this best are usually those who take up the reins early across both fronts, by learning how to allocate capital, while also investing time in building the right structures for governance, succession and long-term resilience,” he says.
For DBS, serving this new generation means going beyond traditional wealth management services to help connect them to ideas, networks and opportunities around the world, while still focusing on supporting them in building resilient businesses and portfolios, and preserving their family legacies for the future.
