On 19 August 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced a package of measures designed to strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading asset management hub. Tucked inside that package, alongside a proposed tax exemption for profit-related fund manager returns and a new ONE Pass track for investment professionals, was a measure that hedge fund managers watching Asia’s fund landscape have been waiting for: a new Hedge Fund Investment Programme.
For a hedge fund manager weighing whether to base a team in Singapore, Hong Kong, or elsewhere in the region, MAS putting its own capital behind managers who commit to the country is a meaningfully different signal from a tax incentive alone. It says the regulator wants substantive investment decision-making, not just a booking entity, to sit in Singapore. But the programme was announced in outline only, with MAS stating it will share further details “when ready”. This article sets out what is known, what is still open, and how a manager should think about the existing routes into Singapore, the Capital Markets Services licence, the Registered Fund Management Company framework, and the Variable Capital Company, while the new scheme’s finer print is worked out.
We also touch briefly on the companion proposal announced the same day: a tax exemption for qualifying profit-related returns (broadly, carried interest) earned by fund managers. That proposal deserves its own treatment and we cover it separately; here it is mentioned only where it bears on relocation planning.
What MAS actually announced on 19 August 2026
MAS’s 19 August 2026 media release grouped three measures under the banner of strengthening Singapore’s asset management competitiveness:
- A proposed tax exemption for qualifying profit-related returns received by fund managers providing services to qualifying funds (those under sections 13D, 13O, 13OA, 13U and 13V of the Income Tax Act 1947), expected to take effect from the Year of Assessment 2027, with mechanics to follow at Budget 2027.
- A new Hedge Fund Investment Programme, through which MAS will invest with hedge fund managers that are committed to establishing or deepening their presence in Singapore.
- A new Investment Management Track under the Overseas Networks and Expertise (ONE) Pass framework, intended to make the ONE Pass more workable for investment professionals whose pay is weighted towards performance-linked returns rather than fixed salary.
On the Hedge Fund Investment Programme specifically, MAS’s stated aims are to anchor global and regional hedge fund managers and investment talent in Singapore, and to support the wider ecosystem, including ancillary service providers and prime brokerages, that grows up around a genuine hedge fund hub. Beyond that framing, MAS has not yet published eligibility criteria, capital commitment sizes, investment structures, or a launch timeline. Treat any commentary quoting specific ticket sizes, AUM thresholds, or headcount numbers for this programme with caution until MAS issues its own detailed rules; we have deliberately not invented figures here.
Context: this measure sits on top of an asset management industry that MAS says has grown by around 7.5 percent per year over the past five years to almost S$7 trillion in assets under management, and follows the revised Single Family Office framework that took effect on 15 June 2026. The direction of travel is clear even where the destination detail is not yet public.
Why this matters for a manager thinking about relocating
Hedge fund managers typically evaluate a relocation destination on a handful of dimensions: regulatory credibility, tax treatment, cost and availability of talent, ease of getting senior staff into the country, and proximity to the capital and counterparties that matter to the strategy. Singapore already scores well on regulatory credibility and has an established fund tax incentive suite. What it has lacked, relative to some competing centres, is a mechanism that puts the regulator’s own capital to work anchoring managers, rather than simply licensing them and waiting.
A capital-allocation programme, even one whose mechanics are still being finalised, changes the calculus in three ways. First, it is a credibility signal to a manager’s own investors: being selected into an MAS-backed programme is a different story to tell allocators than “we moved because the tax rate is favourable”. Second, it potentially provides genuine seed or anchor capital at a point in a manager’s lifecycle, a spin-out or new strategy launch, where capital is hardest to raise. Third, alongside the proposed profit-related returns exemption and the ONE Pass Investment Management Track, it suggests Singapore is trying to make the full economic package (capital, tax, and immigration) coherent for a hedge fund principal, rather than addressing these in isolation.
None of this changes the fact that a manager relocating today still needs to solve the same practical questions: what regulatory licence or exemption covers the management activity, what vehicle will house the fund, and how the manager and key staff obtain the right to live and work in Singapore. Those questions have well-established answers regardless of how the Hedge Fund Investment Programme is eventually structured.
The existing routes still matter: CMS licence, RFMC, and VCC
Whatever form the Hedge Fund Investment Programme ultimately takes, it will sit on top of Singapore’s existing fund management regulatory architecture, not replace it. A hedge fund manager relocating to Singapore will still need to be licensed or exempted to conduct fund management business, and will still need to choose a fund vehicle. The two licensing routes most relevant to hedge fund managers, and the fund vehicle most commonly used alongside them, are set out below.
Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence
A manager running significant assets, or managing funds for a broad range of investors, will generally need a Capital Markets Services licence for fund management under the Securities and Futures Act 2001. This is the route most institutional-scale hedge fund managers will use, and it comes with the fullest set of MAS supervisory obligations: fit and proper assessments for directors and representatives, base capital requirements, and ongoing reporting. Our complete guide to the CMS licence sets out the application process and conditions in detail.
Registered Fund Management Company (RFMC) and the streamlined framework
Smaller managers serving qualified investors have historically used the RFMC registration route, which carries a lighter compliance burden than a full CMS licence. MAS has been moving RFMCs onto a revised, streamlined fund manager framework, and managers currently on the RFMC track need to understand how that migration affects them and what the sunset timeline looks like. We have covered the mechanics of this transition in our article on the RFMC sunset and migration, including the common mistakes managers make when moving across.
Variable Capital Company (VCC)
On the vehicle side, most new hedge fund structures set up in Singapore today use the Variable Capital Company, a corporate structure purpose-built for investment funds that allows variable share capital, umbrella sub-fund structures, and flexibility on distributions. It has become the default choice for managers redomiciling or launching new funds in Singapore, largely displacing older company and unit trust structures for this purpose. Our VCC guide walks through structuring and setup considerations.
Comparing the routes
| Route | Best suited to | Key characteristics | Status as at September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMS licence (fund management) | Larger managers, broader investor base, institutional mandates | Full MAS licensing, base capital requirements, fit and proper checks on representatives, ongoing supervisory reporting | Established, unaffected in mechanics by the 19 August 2026 announcement |
| RFMC / streamlined fund manager framework | Smaller managers serving qualified investors only | Lighter registration regime, subject to migration onto the newer streamlined framework | Established but in transition; managers should confirm their migration timeline |
| Variable Capital Company (fund vehicle) | Any manager needing a fund vehicle, regardless of licensing route | Umbrella and sub-fund flexibility, variable capital, used with 13O/13U/13D tax schemes | Established and the default vehicle of choice for new fund launches |
| Hedge Fund Investment Programme | Hedge fund managers committing to establish or deepen a Singapore presence | MAS invests alongside/with the manager; aims to anchor talent and support the wider ecosystem | Proposed; framework, eligibility and timeline not yet published by MAS |
The practical point is that a manager should not wait for the Hedge Fund Investment Programme to be finalised before beginning the relocation process. Licensing applications, VCC incorporation, and the tax scheme election under section 13O or 13U typically take months, and nothing suggests participation in the new programme will require a different regulatory pathway than the ones already in place.
Tax structuring alongside the new measures
A hedge fund relocating to Singapore will usually want its fund to qualify for one of the existing fund tax incentive schemes under the Income Tax Act 1947 so that qualifying investment income is exempt from Singapore tax at the fund level. For funds of meaningful scale, that generally means the enhanced-tier scheme under section 13U; smaller or newly launched funds may instead look at the section 13O scheme. Both carry economic substance conditions, including requirements around Singapore-based staff and business spending, that a relocating manager needs to plan for from day one rather than retrofit later. Our step-by-step walkthroughs of the section 13U enhanced-tier fund scheme and the section 13O tax incentive scheme cover the application process, conditions, and lifecycle obligations for each.
Keep two things distinct: the existing fund-level exemptions under sections 13O and 13U (established, unaffected by the August announcement), and the proposed new exemption for the manager’s own profit-related returns (not yet in force, to be detailed at Budget 2027, expected around February 2027). Plan the relocation on the schemes that exist today, and treat the profit-related returns exemption as a welcome but unconfirmed enhancement to layer in once its conditions are published.
Practical considerations for a relocating hedge fund manager
Beyond the regulatory and tax architecture, a few practical points are worth flagging for a manager actually working through a Singapore relocation over the next twelve months.
Sequencing matters. Corporate incorporation, VCC setup, MAS licensing or registration, and tax scheme applications each have their own timelines and dependencies. Getting the order wrong, for example applying for a tax incentive before the licensing entity is properly constituted, is a common cause of delay.
Substance requirements are not optional extras. Both the CMS licensing regime and the 13O/13U tax schemes require genuine Singapore-based activity: qualified staff, decision-making authority, and real business spending in Singapore. A manager treating Singapore as a nameplate jurisdiction while running the strategy from elsewhere will struggle to satisfy either regulator or IRAS, and this is unlikely to change under any new programme.
Immigration planning should run in parallel, not after. Whether senior staff will eventually use the new ONE Pass Investment Management Track, the existing ONE Pass, or an Employment Pass, work pass applications should be scoped alongside the corporate and licensing work rather than treated as a final step.
Watch for the detailed rules, but do not wait for them. MAS has indicated more detail on the Hedge Fund Investment Programme will follow, and the profit-related returns exemption mechanics are due at Budget 2027. A manager with a genuine reason to move now should proceed on the existing, well-tested framework and treat the new measures as potential upside to layer in later, rather than a reason to delay.
Conclusion
MAS’s Hedge Fund Investment Programme is, at this stage, a statement of intent backed by the promise of capital rather than a fully specified scheme. What is certain is that it forms part of a broader push, alongside the proposed profit-related returns tax exemption and the new ONE Pass Investment Management Track, to make Singapore a base for substantive hedge fund decision-making rather than just fund administration. For managers with a genuine relocation timeline, the sensible path is to build on the existing, proven framework of CMS licensing or RFMC registration, a Variable Capital Company structure, and the 13O or 13U tax schemes, while keeping an eye on MAS’s further announcements. If you are weighing a move to Singapore and want to work through what these options mean for your structure, get in touch with the team at Raffles Corporate Services.
The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services