Financial regulators in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have launched the platform and nominee services of the Integrated Fund Platform (IFP).

The platform is set to be a milestone for the sustainable development of the asset-and-wealth management industry by building an efficient, connected and scalable investment fund distribution ecosystem in the SAR.

With the provision of the platform and nominee services, the IFP now supports a more end-to-end digitalized fund distribution workflow that will help reduce operational friction, improve market efficiency, and lower barriers for fund managers to reach a broader distribution network through a more standardized channel. Starting Wednesday, fund subscription and redemption by distributors, including brokers on behalf of their clients, become operational.  

The new services seek to address market fragmentation by providing a more streamlined operating framework, with the aim of improving efficiency across onboarding, order processing, settlement, payments, reconciliation and reporting.

“We will continue to work closely with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the industry to ensure the platform delivers practical benefits to fund managers, distributors and, ultimately, investors. We encourage more market participants to join the platform and to explore how the new services can support the growth of Hong Kong’s assets under management (AUM),” Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu said at the launch ceremony on Wednesday.

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Hong Kong is the world's largest cross-border wealth management centre, and AUM reached a record-high of HK$42.2 trillion ($5.4 trillion) as at the end of 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 20 percent. Net fund inflows almost tripled year-on-year to HK$2.1 trillion, with more than half sourced from investors outside the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

“With more capital coming to Asia, we want to make sure that we offer greater choice, easier access, and a more seamless experience when doing business in our markets, including when investing in funds,” said Bonnie Chan Yi-ting, chief executive officer of HKEX, at the launch ceremony.

The CEO added: “Today’s launch will make fund distribution more efficient, more connected, more scalable. It strengthens connectivity between market participants, making it easier for the industry to serve the evolving needs of investors and providing a foundation for industry growth.”

SFC Investment Products Executive Director Elisa Ng Ka-li said: "With the launch of the platform and nominee services, the IFP has reached an important goal with all its key services in operation. The platform is expected to generate tangible value by enhancing market efficiency and facilitating new fund distribution relationships.

"Over the longer term, IFP is also expected to spur wider investor participation in the Hong Kong fund market as it will help diversify fund distribution channels. This should help attract a more diverse, continuous base of domestic and cross-border capital, and cement Hong Kong’s ranking as a global leader in wealth management.”

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The SAR government in the 2023 Policy Address proposed the IFP, developed by HKEX with the support of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the SFC, as a key piece of financial market infrastructure.

The fund repository, launched in December 2024, has already enhanced transparency by providing streamlined access to information on more than 2,000 SFC-authorised funds. The order routing service, introduced in July 2025, has begun to connect distributors and transfer agents, and streamline the order placement process for subscriptions and redemptions.

Building on the fund repository and the order routing service, these new platform and nominee services form an integrated, business-to-business market infrastructure connecting distributors, fund managers, transfer agents and other participants through standardized workflows and information exchange.

Since the order routing service launch, when IFP welcomed an initial cohort of 33 participants, its participant base has grown to over 60 distributors, fund houses and transfer agents, HKEX noted.

The distributors that are onboarded to the IFP include licensed corporations which are eligible to service investors under the Cross-Boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, SFC said.