The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to media reports, with the recovery of the Hong Kong IPO market and the introduction of preferential tax policies for private equity funds and hedge funds, etc., foreign employees have been attracted to return to Hong Kong. However, the return of talent has made the leasing market and international school degrees more tight. Among them, rents for high-end residences such as Dongbanshan skyrocketed 14% in June, outperforming the market.
A number of financial institutions are rebuilding their senior management teams in Hong Kong to release confidence in Hong Kong's long-term development. Bank of America transferred Thorsten Pauli, head of capital markets in the Asia Pacific region from Zurich to Hong Kong; Aileen Taylor, the chief human resources and governance director of the HSBC Group, plans to move from London to Hong Kong to strengthen the senior management lineup in the Asia-Pacific region; the CEO of HSBC also worked in Hong Kong for a long time this year, and the group maintained a staff of about 20,000 people in Hong Kong.
Official data also shows that the number of employment visas granted to foreigners last year was more than double that of five years ago. In the financial services sector, the number of visas granted to foreigners increased 17% last year, reaching the highest level since 2022. It was this wave of financial talent that directly boosted local rents and competition for international school degrees.
The number of people in Jiaxia, the core area of Central District, has clearly rebounded. The Henderson, a subsidiary of Henderson, a subsidiary of Henderson Land, which was once regarded as a commercial city road, has now reached 90%; while the occupancy rate for Cheung Kong Group Center Phase II has doubled to about 60% this year.
In terms of residential rental, data from the online platform Spacious.hk shows that rents in neighborhoods favored by expatriates have risen sharply in the past year, far exceeding the city average. In June, rents in high-end residential areas such as Dongzhanshan and Hilltop rose by about 14% and 13%, respectively, higher than the average increase of about 10% over the same period.
The degree tension in international schools is even more obvious. Education consulting agency Ampla Education said that the waiting time for major international schools in Hong Kong is currently generally as long as one year. According to data from the Hong Kong Education Bureau, the number of students in international schools in Hong Kong has grown by about 10% in the past three years to more than 48,000, while the supply of places increased by less than 5% during the same period.
However, whether the trend of talent return continues will depend on the performance of the IPO market and the countermeasures of financial centers such as Singapore and Dubai. Currently, Hong Kong is actively promoting its low tax rates and relatively few red tape advantages to ultra-high net worth business owners and asset managers around the world. Hong Kong officials recently proposed a bill aimed at effectively exempting some fund managers from the tax burden on performance-related income.