Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s biggest cross-border wealth hub

Hong Kong surpasses Switzerland as the world’s biggest cross-border wealth hub for the first time, well ahead of its year 2027 goal set back in 2025, fueled by an influx of investment from the Chinese mainland.
Wealth managers in the Chinese territory booked $2.9tn of international assets in 2025, according to estimates from the Boston Consulting Group.
​

​By Nermin A., Editor

• BCG’s Global Wealth Report 2026 Finds Global Financial Wealth Rose 10.7% to $333 Trillion in 2025, the Fastest Growth Since 2021
• Emerging Markets Projected to Add Nearly $7 Trillion in Financial Wealth by 2030, Led by India, Brazil, and Mexico
• AI-First Wealth Managers Could Unlock 25%–30% Capacity Gains and Increase Revenue per Advisor by 15%–20%​​

BOSTON—Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland for the first time as the world’s largest cross-border wealth hub, according to Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Global Wealth Report 2026: The Great Reordering, released today. Cross-border wealth booked in Hong Kong rose 10.7% in 2025 to reach $2.9 trillion, driven by mainland China inflows, strong IPO activity, and equity-market gains.
The report also found that global financial wealth grew 10.7% in 2025 to reach $333 trillion despite ongoing trade tensions, tariff brinkmanship, and geopolitical instability. Including real assets, global net wealth climbed to nearly $550 trillion. Cross-border wealth rose 8.4% globally to $15.7 trillion, with the top ten booking centers capturing almost 90% of new offshore flows.

“These shifts are reshaping the geography of global wealth,” said Michael Kahlich, a BCG managing director and partner and coauthor of the report. “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.”

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

A New Global Wealth Map Emerges

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 mainland Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian capital. The other is anchored by Switzerland, the US, and the UK, serving European, Middle Eastern, and Latin American wealth.
Singapore continued 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 UAE remained among the fastest-growing booking centers globally, with cross-border wealth rising 11.1% in 2025.
The report also found that regional wealth growth varied significantly:

• Western Europe posted the strongest major-market growth at 15.3%, supported by favorable currency movements and high household savings rates.
• Mainland China’s financial wealth rose 15% in 2025 and is projected to grow 9% annually through 2030.
• North American wealth growth slowed to 7.4%, with gains concentrated among a narrow group of large technology companies.
• Emerging markets are projected to account for roughly 10% of global wealth growth through 2030.

Emerging Markets Will Create the Next Wave of Millionaires

Emerging markets are expected to add nearly $7 trillion in financial wealth by 2030, led by India, Brazil, and Mexico. The affluent-and-above segment, individuals with more than $250,000 in financial wealth, is forecast to grow 8% annually across these markets, creating more than one million new millionaires by the end of the decade.
The report argues that this client segment remains structurally underserved. Many international wealth managers are retreating toward ultra-high-net-worth clients because of rising compliance costs and tighter cross-border requirements, leaving local banks and independent wealth managers with an opportunity to expand.
Retail and corporate banks in emerging markets are particularly well positioned because they already hold the majority of client deposits and maintain trusted local relationships. However, BCG notes that many institutions still rely on deposit-focused service models that have not evolved into full wealth-management propositions.

Asia Faces a Generational Wealth Transfer Reckoning

The report also highlights the beginning of Asia’s first large-scale intergenerational wealth transfer. Across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, between 40% and 50% of major enterprises remain founder-led, with median leadership ages above 70. As family wealth becomes more geographically dispersed and structurally complex, succession planning is shifting from inheritance decisions toward broader questions of governance, ownership, and long-term stewardship.
“Families are increasingly confronting succession as a design challenge rather than a single transfer event,” said Kahlich. “The firms that can help clients navigate governance, intergenerational alignment, and long-term wealth structures will define the next era of wealth management in Asia.”

AI Is Reshaping the Economics of Wealth Management
​
BCG’s report finds that AI is beginning to fundamentally reshape wealth-management economics and operating models. AI-powered tools are already drafting financial plans, automating compliance documentation, generating portfolio rationales, and predicting client churn.
According to BCG analysis, AI-first wealth managers could unlock 25%–30% capacity gains across key workflows while increasing revenue per advisor by 15%–20%. The report argues that the industry is approaching a structural divide between firms redesigning workflows around AI agents and those layering AI tools onto legacy processes.
“AI is no longer a productivity side story for wealth management,” said Kahlich. “The firms moving earliest are redesigning advisory models, client servicing, and operations end to end. The gap between AI-first firms and traditional operating models could widen very quickly.”
Download the report (four chapters) here:

• The Great Reordering
• Where the Next Wave of Wealth Is Coming From
• The Succession Reckoning
• AI and the New Economics of Wealth Management

Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.
 
Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.