The “trend focusing on AI will still continue,” according to Koh, whose clients are spread throughout the Asia-Pacific area.
LH Koh, managing director and head of global family and institutional wealth at UBS, stated at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore last month that artificial intelligence has grown in popularity among family offices in Singapore and throughout Asia. In an interview he stated, “This is perhaps the most interesting and important sector that our family office clients are focusing on.”
According to a 2024 UBS survey, over 75% of families are eager to spend money on generative AI within the next two to three years, he said. The founder and partner of the single-family office JRT Partners, Tuck Meng Yee, echoed what Koh had said. Yee, whose company employs a “multi-asset, endowment-style” strategy, claims he is closely monitoring the AI theme’s data classification component.
He owns stakes in companies in this industry, including Cognaize, an Armenian software development firm. Consai, a construction technology company with offices in Poland and Qatar, is another business in which Yee has invested.
China’s AI
In China’s AI market, family offices have also been looking for opportunities. China has become “the forefront in doing a lot more, especially with a lot less that is available to them” as a result of the rise of DeepSeek. That is pretty exciting, in my opinion,” stated Srihari Kumar, the founder of LionRock Capital, a single-family office.
“A new sort of enthusiasm on what is going to come from [the AI sector] in China, and this remains a very interesting space for investors,” Koh of UBS also noted.
Due to China’s slowing economy, investor interest in the country has decreased recently, but this could soon change.
Given its domestic issues, China has become a “smaller part” of investors’ portfolios in recent years, according to Kumar. However, he added, there has been a shift, with investors looking for opportunities in the country following Beijing’s stimulus measures to boost the Chinese economy and technology sector.
“For us, and I believe as we speak with other family offices, they say, ‘OK, can we reinvest in China?’ And I believe that [interest in China] is definitely increasing,” Kumar stated.
Previously, he invested 40% of his portfolio in the United States, 40% in India, and the remaining 20% elsewhere.
Kumar now says he is “looking more at China,” public markets, and the technology sector for investment opportunities.
