A strong asset management sector and enhanced market connectivity amidst improving investor sentiment provided Hong Kong’s capital markets with a strong finish to 2024, according to the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) Quarterly Report published today. 

On the asset management front, the exchange-traded fund (ETFs) market made further headway last year, as the average daily turnover for ETFs surged 35% year-on-year to $18.9 billion (US$2.4 billion), accounting for 14% of total stock market turnover (Note 1). They raked in net inflows of $22.8 billion (US$2.9 billion) for the year, while the number of ETFs increased 11% to 194 (Note 2).

In another sign of the sector’s vibrancy, net inflows into Hong Kong-domiciled funds soared 88% to $162.9 billion (US$ 20.9 billion), with their assets under management up by a robust 22% to $1.64 trillion (US$211.4 billion).

Meanwhile, the milestone cross-listing of two Hong Kong ETFs in Saudi Arabia in October has boosted regional market connectivity. The two ETFs, the largest in the Saudi market, had a combined market capitalisation of US$1.6 billion as of December.

Following the implementation of ETF Connect enhancements and the listings of several leading Mainland companies in Hong Kong since April 2024, connectivity with Mainland markets was further reinforced as enhancements to the Mainland-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds scheme strongly bolstered Hong Kong fund sales after taking effect in January 2025.

Stock Connect, marking a first decade of success, saw a 55% jump in average daily southbound trading to $48.2 billion in 2024, representing more than 18% of Hong Kong market turnover. Southbound net inflows also hit a 10-year high of $807.9 billion, with cumulative inflows nearing $3.7 trillion as of December.

"With the Mainland’s comprehensive support for its economy since last September, Hong Kong’s markets demonstrated time-tested resilience and enduring appeal to global investors through a challenging year of 2024," said Ms Julia Leung, the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Building upon the progress, the SFC will remain committed to facilitating developments and fostering innovation for our markets while upholding their integrity and quality.”

In addition, licensing data continued its upward trend, with the total number of licensed corporations up 1.5% and the number of licence applications up 15% as of end-2024 (Note 3). For virtual assets (VA), the SFC granted licences to three more VA trading platforms in early 2025, bringing the total number to 10. To cement Hong Kong’s role as a global VA hub, the SFC has recently issued the “ASPIRe” roadmap clearly setting out 12 major initiatives (Note 4). 

To step up investor education and combat investment fraud, the SFC in December launched a fresh anti-scam publicity campaign titled “Don’t be Sucker” through a catchy rap song, a music video, a new Instagram account and advertisements on both online and traditional media. The music video recorded more than 78,000 views on the campaign’s dedicated YouTube channel in the first two months since launch. The campaign focuses on the common scam scenarios of online romance scams, impersonation and deceptive tips from financial influencers (Note 5).

The SFC also continued to prudently manage its financial health, which is key to ensuring its sustainability as Hong Kong’s capital market regulator. It is pleased to report a modest surplus of $77 million for the last quarter, as Hong Kong’s stock market turnover rebounded upon the Mainland’s economic support measures.

The quarterly report is available on the SFC website.

End