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Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio’s family office has bought two multimillion-dollar “shophouses” in Singapore as billionaires snap up historic properties in the city-state.
The Dalio family office, which announced its move to the Asian financial hub during the pandemic, bought two commercial buildings on Club Street in 2021 for about S$25.5 million (US$18.9 million), according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal.
Family offices – private wealth managers for wealthy individuals – have exploded in Singapore from a handful in 2018 to about 1,400 in 2023. They have invested in real estate in Singapore, with shophouses being a popular choice. Some of the properties are vacant or are being used as offices, residential buildings or commercial premises.
In a building permit issued by the government in late 2023 for the 44 and 46 Club Street site, Tan Mae Shen, the managing director of the Dalio Family Office in Singapore, is listed as the developer.
Renovation of the properties is expected to be completed early next year, according to the filing, and the company has begun hiring through LinkedIn. The Dalio Family Office is also expanding in Abu Dhabi after the billionaire retired from his hedge fund.
A spokesman for Dalio declined to comment. Rawlinson & Hunter, a London-based professional services firm named in the property documents, also declined to comment.
According to KPMG, Singapore is home to almost 60 percent of family offices in the Asia-Pacific region. The family office of Google co-founder Sergey Brin has also founded a branch in Singapore alongside many rich Chinese families.
There are approximately 6,700 conservation stores in Singapore. The buildings, whose design was introduced by Chinese immigrants in the 18th century, doubled as business offices and residential quarters for early merchants in the former colonial outpost.
Zhang Ying, the wife of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, paid about 45 million Singapore dollars for three adjoining commercial buildings on nearby Duxton Road in January, according to government filings. Zhang is also a Singaporean citizen.
According to property consultancy Knight Frank, retail store sales reached a record S$1.9 billion in 2021, with the average price of a property rising from S$5 million to S$8 million to S$15 million to S$20 million over the past decade.
The consultancy said the doubling of property tax to 60 percent for foreigners buying residential properties last year had sparked interest in commercial shophouses among family offices as the properties could serve as part of their assets and as offices.
However, both shophouse sales and the rate of new family office openings have slowed since Singapore’s $3 billion money laundering investigation last August. Some of the defendants and their alleged associates were connected to family offices and used the funds to purchase shophouses.
In response to the investigation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened controls on family offices late last year, slowing the sale of the historic properties.
In December, DBS Bank put on the market 10 shophouses owned by two Chinese nationals with alleged links to a person accused in the money laundering case to seek repayments on their loans.
“Some, although not all, of the properties linked to the money launderers are being sold and the market – especially foreign buyers – is waiting to see what price they fetch and whether the affair can be put to rest,” said a real estate agent , who wishes to remain anonymous.
“But the retail market has been damaged by this, so I expect lower sales this year.”
Additional reporting by Ortenca Aliaj in London