A new horizon for Europe’s established family fortunes

For generations, wealthy families in Europe have built steady fortunes, confident in the continent’s economic and political stability. 

But with taxes rising across Europe, reporting standards tightening and geopolitical risks rising, things have become harder to predict than they have in years. For families whose wealth has been built across generations behind the scenes of industrial enterprises, agricultural holdings and professional services firms, the question is no longer whether to diversify beyond the continent, but how and where.

For a growing number of families, the answer is Hong Kong.

[See also: Why Europe’s wealthiest families are heading to Hong Kong]

The Global Wealth Report 2026, published by the Boston Consulting Group in May this year, named Hong Kong the world’s largest cross-boundary wealth management centre. It’s expected to hold that position through to the end of the decade, with the wealth it manages across borders growing by around 9 per cent a year until 2030. That’s a hard trend to ignore for families deciding where to place capital long-term.

Hong Kong’s family office offering

A family office and a family business work best when they move in synergy. The family office now needs to do more than it has in the past, serving as the growth engine that targets untapped opportunities and optimising capital allocation. Hong Kong rules do not mandate the relocation of physical infrastructure or hard asset facilities for family enterprises. Instead, businesses leverage the jurisdiction as a strategic regional hub to oversee pan-Asian wealth and global investments. The city delivers a rare combination that is highly sought after in today’s volatile climate: institutional certainty, operational resilience and robust growth opportunities within a single, stable framework.

[See also: The Spear’s Wealth Management Indices 2026]

For families with an eye on Asia specifically, that often means getting closer to the Chinese mainland.

And that is exactly where Hong Kong makes its case. Its financial infrastructure and international connectivity give family businesses a way into both the Chinese mainland and global markets at once, instead of having to choose between them. For a family enterprise seeking to capture growth across Asia or strategically optimise its asset allocation, such a level of market access is unrivalled.

Beyond infrastructure, there is a profound alignment of values. A century of managing family wealth has made Hong Kong Asia’s premier financial hub for cross-border wealth management. Families who have generated success through decades of patient strategy naturally recognise their own principles embedded in Hong Kong’s legacy. The jurisdiction doesn’t just offer access; it offers a familiar mindset in a vital new geography.

[See also: Hong Kong emerges as global magnet for family offices]

Against a backdrop of heightened political tension and risk in Europe, such enduring stability acts as a critical differentiator, drawing European legacy families seeking safe-haven jurisdictions for long-term planning.

Sustaining the purpose and relevance of a family enterprise across generations requires far more than the transfer of assets. It calls for the careful preparation of successors – equipping them to steward wealth responsibly, make prudent decisions and uphold the values that have shaped the family’s enduring legacy. 

It is a perspective that Maximilian Kaufmann, Representative of Major Shareholder of Leica Camera AG, understands intimately. ‘Having grown up within Leica and learned from a father who consistently embraced responsibility, I see Hong Kong as a place where tradition and entrepreneurship can flourish side by side,’ he says. Maximilian sees the city as a natural bridge: ‘Hong Kong’s decision to position itself as a cultural hub where East truly meets West makes it the natural springboard for family-run heritage brands. World-class infrastructure and seamless connectivity link people, ideas and businesses here, giving companies like ours the ideal platform to share our story across Asia,’ he says.

The Hong Kong lifestyle

If moving a family office, or even just its next generation, is rarely just about the numbers, Hong Kong easily makes the case on lifestyle alone.

For time-poor HNWs, the appeal is in how much fits into a single day. A morning hike up Dragon’s Back, one of the city’s best-known trails, is entirely feasible before a full day of meetings. By early afternoon, the financial district is a short drive away, with a Michelin-starred lunch or a local market both within easy reach. In the evening, there’s time for a concert at the Cultural Centre, or dinner overlooking Victoria Harbour.

[See also: Behind the Hong Kong family office boom]

Geography does a lot of the work here. Spread across more than 260 islands, Hong Kong offers far more than its skyline suggests. Lantau has quiet trails and the Big Buddha, Tai Long Wan has white-sand beaches close to the centre, and Lamma Island has built a name for its slower and more relaxed pace. Beaches, country parks, yacht clubs and golf courses also all sit within a short drive of the business district, which is rare for a city that also ranks among the world’s top financial capitals.

Culturally, the city holds its own, too. M+ and Tai Kwun are now among the region’s best galleries, sitting close to some of the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury boutiques.

For families planning beyond a single generation, education is often the deciding factor, and Hong Kong holds up well under that scrutiny, too. The city has 54 international schools covering American, British, German, French and Japanese curricula, making the transition straightforward for children moving from other education systems. At university level, Hong Kong leads Asia, with five institutions ranked among the global top 100.