The 2026 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards – Hong Kong marked a truly memorable occasion, celebrating excellence across the city’s asset management industry. Held at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, on May 5, the event brought together more than 100 industry leaders and professionals, creating a vibrant atmosphere characterized by recognition, celebration, and meaningful connections.
The luncheon opened with welcoming remarks from Gary Zee, LSEG Hong Kong Site Leader. Joseph Chan, JP, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, delivered remarks as the Guest of Honor.
Joseph Chan, JP, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
In his remarks, Joseph shared that Hong Kong has reaffirmed its position as Asia’s preeminent financial hub, currently ranking third globally and first within the region according to the latest Global Financial Centres Index. The city maintains a dominant international standing, holding the top global rank in fintech, banking, financing, and insurance, while placing second in investment management. This leadership is supported by a robust asset management sector, which saw net inflows into locally domiciled funds surge by 119% last year to reach $46 billion. Furthermore, Hong Kong remains the largest hedge fund center in Asia and continues to attract significant private wealth, with the number of single-family offices growing by over 25% in the last two years to exceed 3,380 entities.
The expansion of Hong Kong’s capital markets is largely driven by strategic policy frameworks, including stamp duty exemptions and the integration of Exchange Traded Funds into the Stock Connect mechanism. These initiatives have fostered a sophisticated ETF ecosystem that saw average daily turnover double to HK$33.3 billion last year across 200 listed products. The recent introduction of specialized instruments, such as Sukuk ETFs and SFC-authorized tokenized ETFs, underscores a clear trajectory toward deeper market liquidity and increased product diversification, ensuring the city’s continued competitiveness in the global financial landscape.
AI, Market Insights, and Industry Transformation
Feng, Xav, Director of LSEG Lipper Asia Pacific Research, presented compelling research insights, underscoring the differentiating strength of LSEG Lipper’s analytics, data capabilities, and thought leadership. His presentation highlighted the increasing integration of artificial intelligence across the investment lifecycle.
Feng, Xav, Director of LSEG Lipper Asia Pacific Research
Traditional quantitative models are being enhanced by large language models (LLMs), enabling investment teams to systematically process and analyze vast volumes of unstructured data. This evolution is expanding opportunities for alpha generation while improving decision-making efficiency. At the same time, AI is accelerating the emergence of “Wealth-as-a-Service,” empowering asset managers to deliver personalized, event-driven insights at the portfolio level—services that were previously limited to private banking clients. Alongside the continued growth of robo-advisory platforms, these developments are democratizing access to sophisticated portfolio construction for mass affluent investors.
These trends closely align with LSEG and Lipper’s long-term strategy. LSEG continues to invest in advanced AI capabilities, agent-based frameworks, and platform connectivity, supporting greater transparency, personalization, and performance enablement as the industry transitions toward AI-first operating models.
Global Fund Flow Trends
According to LSEG Lipper analysis presented by Xav Feng, global fund markets recorded three consecutive years of substantial net inflows, totaling USD 2.4 trillion in 2025. With the exception of Mixed Assets and Real Estate, all major asset classes attracted inflows, led by Money Market and Bond funds, reflecting sustained investor demand for liquidity and income-oriented solutions.
At a more granular level, Lipper Global Classifications indicate that Money Market USD, Money Market CNY, and Global Equity funds recorded the strongest inflows during the year. In contrast, Equity U.S. Small- and Mid-Cap, Equity U.S., and Mixed Asset Aggressive CNY experienced the largest net outflows, highlighting selective risk repositioning and ongoing shifts in regional and style preferences.
Recognizing Consistency and Long‑Term Excellence
In line with the global LSEG Lipper Awards methodology, winners are determined based on the Lipper Leader Rating for Consistent Return—a rigorous, quantitative, risk-adjusted measure that identifies funds delivering strong and consistent performance relative to peers over time.
For the 2026 LSEG Lipper Fund Awards – Hong Kong, a total of 138 awards were presented, including 130 classification awards and 8 group awards. Of these, 94 classification awards and 4 group awards were attributed to the Hong Kong mutual funds universe, while 36 classification awards and 4 group awards recognized excellence within the Hong Kong pension funds universe.
