SUSTAINABILITY INVESTING IN FAMILY OFFICES: EVIDENCE FROM SINGAPORE

Abstract

Family offices are increasingly recognised as a potentially important source of capital for sustainability-related investment. However, relatively little is known about how they make such decisions, particularly in Asia. This paper fills that knowledge gap and contributes important new empirical evidence by analysing the decision-making processes of family offices operating out of Singapore. Based on a comprehensive literature review and twenty-two interviews with different stakeholders (including single- and multi-family offices, private bankers, service providers and a regulator), the paper concludes that sustainability is rarely an explicitly stated priority for these family offices, but is often implicitly addressed as part of long-term investing, succession planning, and/or intergenerational values. The paper also concludes that family offices’ willingness to invest in sustainability-related areas is constrained by return expectations and by gaps in data and measurement. These conclusions, combined with insights and suggestions from the interviews, point to practical strategies and conditions that might help mobilise private capital toward sustainability outcomes.