The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled a package of measures aimed at keeping the city-state competitive as a global hub for fund management. In a media release published on 19 August 2026, the regulator set out three initiatives spanning tax, capital and talent, each intended to encourage leading asset managers to base more of their business, investment activity and senior hiring in Singapore.
MAS framed the package against a backdrop of intensifying competition among financial centres. It pointed to the scale of Singapore's asset management sector, which it said contributes around 15% of the financial industry's output and 13% of its jobs. Assets under management have climbed by an average of about 7.5% a year over the past five years, the regulator added, reaching close to S$7 trillion.
A proposed tax break on performance-linked returns
The first measure, developed with the Ministry of Finance (MOF), would exempt from tax the performance-linked income that managers earn for running qualifying funds, a form of fund management services income. MAS was careful to draw the boundaries: the break is meant for the performance element of a manager's pay, the reward for generating strong returns, and not for fixed compensation such as salaries or bonuses.
To qualify, a fund must already hold tax-exempt status under one of several provisions of the Income Tax Act 1947 (Sections 13D, 13O, 13OA, 13U and 13V) and be managed from Singapore. Such funds must also satisfy economic substance requirements to retain that status, among them minimum local headcount and business-spending thresholds.
The exemption is expected to take effect from the 2027 Year of Assessment. It is designed to reach the profit share itself, wherever it lands within a manager's structure, rather than being tied to any single type of recipient. Fuller details are due at Budget 2027.
A new Hedge Fund Investment Programme
Under the second initiative, the MAS Hedge Fund Investment Programme, the regulator will put its own capital to work alongside managers that pledge to build up their operations in the country. The programme is intended not just to attract established managers and their funds, but to strengthen the broader network of specialist service providers that a hedge fund sector depends on. MAS said further operational detail would follow.
A new ONE Pass Investment Management Track
The third measure, developed with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), adds an Investment Management Track to the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass. Aimed at senior global professionals who make a significant contribution to the sector, it would change how their pay is weighed for the pass, giving more recognition to variable, performance-based components rather than fixed salary alone. MAS noted that such variable pay often forms a large and recurring part of total compensation in the industry.
Jobs and next steps
MAS presented the package as a boost for local employment as much as for industry growth. It described the sector as a meaningful employer of Singaporeans, offering skilled careers in everything from research and portfolio work to client servicing and risk. Of a workforce approaching 25,000, it said, roughly four in five are locals.
The three measures sit at different stages of readiness. The tax exemption remains a proposal, with the substance to be spelled out at Budget 2027; the Hedge Fund Investment Programme is a firmer commitment that still awaits operational detail; and the ONE Pass track is, for now, an intention that MAS and MOM plan to develop further.
