A pioneering Hong Kong brokerage reinvents itself as an alternative asset manager and leads Sygnum's latest funding round.
Sun and who? Is probably what many were thinking after reading the news about Sygnum's latest $90 million funding round led by Sun Hung Kai.
But to anyone living in Hong Kong, the logo and name are a familiar sight, given that they are plastered on innumerable residential high rises.
A Brief History
Sun Hung Kai & Co was established in 1969 as a pioneering brokerage by three renowned Hong Kong billionaires, one of which was Kwok Tat Seng, who also founded one of Hong Kong’s largest property developers, Sun Hung Kai Properties.
Although they have the same name and similar logos, and a shared heritage, the companies are separate and managed independently.
The brokerage, now owned by Allied Group, an investment holding company, first listed in Hong Kong in 1983. It has transformed itself into an investment manager over the past five years and according to its 2021 interim report, it is become a leader in alternative investments, pursuing a strategy of incubating emerging asset managers in Asia.
Prominent Family
The three Kwok brothers, Raymond, Walter (now deceased) and Thomas, inherited the mainstay property developer from their father in 1990 and the family remains among Hong Kong, and Asia’s richest, with a net worth of $38 billion according to a 2019 estimate by Bloomberg.
The family has featured prominently in recent Hong Kong history, with Walter Kwok being kidnapped in 1997 while the other two brothers, Raymond, and Thomas, were arrested after being accused of bribing a government official. Raymond Kwok was subsequently cleared but Thomas was convicted and jailed.
