Up Close and Personal with… Johnny Heng, Senior Adviser, Avenue Family Office

“Diversification; Liquidity, Governance.”

  – Johnny Hen, Senior Adviser, BugleRock Capital

Tell us about yourself, your company, and your role.

Avenue Family Office (Singapore) Pte Ltd

I am a Senior Adviser at the Avenue Family Office’s Singapore office, where I focus on strategic advisory, client stewardship, and regional growth initiatives. My role bridges investment strategy, governance oversight, and client relationship management, particularly for families navigating multi-jurisdictional wealth structures across Asia.
Avenue Family Office is a multi-family office with a strong presence in Hong Kong (central hub), Tokyo, Shenzhen, and now Singapore — where we recently obtained our CMS license. We provide fully integrated, fiduciary-grade solutions including discretionary portfolio management, succession planning, family governance, and institutional-quality risk frameworks. Our clients are typically cross-border entrepreneurs and multi-generational families who value independence, transparency, and long-term capital stewardship over short-term performance.

What is wealth management to you?

To me, wealth management is not product distribution or short-term performance chasing. It is a long-term stewardship mandate. I shall use the Avenue model and framework to illustrate.

At Avenue, wealth management means:

1. Preservation before performance

   The first objective of wealth is continuity. Capital preservation, risk discipline, liquidity planning, and structural resilience always precede return optimisation.

2. Institutional standards for private capital

   We apply institutional portfolio construction principles — asset allocation discipline, diversification, manager due diligence, risk budgeting, and scenario testing — to private family capital.

3. Alignment and independence

   We believe advice must be aligned with clients’ long-term interests. Wealth management should reduce complexity, not introduce it. Independence, transparency of fees, and clarity of risk exposures are essential components of trust.

4. Intergenerational continuity

   True wealth management extends beyond investments. It includes governance structures, next-generation education, and coordination across legal, tax, and philanthropic planning advisers.

In short, wealth management at Avenue is about building durable capital frameworks that survive economic cycles and generational transitions.

Three Key Lessons from the Past Three Years

The past three years have been deeply formative, both professionally and personally.

1. Diversification Must Be Real, Not Theoretical

Geopolitical shifts, rate volatility, and regional market divergence have reinforced that diversification must be genuinely global and multi-asset. Correlations can converge rapidly during stress events. True diversification now requires:

• geographic balance,
• asset class depth,
• liquidity tiering, and
• exposure to alternative return drivers.

2. Liquidity Is Strategic, Not Tactical

Periods of market stress revealed that liquidity planning is not an afterthought. I’ve personally witnessed families with strong liquidity buffers seize opportunities others missed during volatility; this reinforced my conviction in intentional illiquidity sizing and stress-testing.

3. Governance Is a Competitive Advantage

Families with clear decision frameworks navigated uncertainty with far less emotional stress. On a personal level, this period reminded me how privileged I am to guide families through such transitions; it strengthened my commitment to being a calm, long-term steward rather than just an adviser.

These lessons now shape everything we do at Avenue Singapore as we build deeper partnerships with families who share our values.

Plans for the Singapore Office Over the Next Three Years

Singapore continues to strengthen its position as a global wealth hub, particularly for Southeast Asia and Greater China families. Our Singapore office is central to our regional strategy.

1. Deepen Institutional Investment Capabilities

We intend to further strengthen our portfolio analytics, manager research, and alternative investment due diligence capabilities in Singapore. This includes:

• enhanced private market sourcing,
• improved risk analytics infrastructure,
• and closer integration between advisory and discretionary mandates. 

2. Expand Multi-Generational Advisory Services

Over the next three years, we aim to build structured next-generation education initiatives, family governance workshops, and philanthropy advisory coordination to complement portfolio management.

3. Strengthen Regional Connectivity

Singapore serves as a bridge between ASEAN, North Asia, and global markets. We plan to:

• enhance collaboration between our Hong Kong and Singapore teams,
• deepen partnerships with private banks, custodians, and institutional counterparties,
• and expand client servicing capabilities for families relocating or establishing regional footprints.

4. Invest in Talent and Compliance Infrastructure

Wealth management today requires robust operational discipline. We will continue investing in experienced professionals and compliance systems to ensure sustainable growth and regulatory alignment.

Closing Perspective

The wealth management industry is evolving rapidly. Families are increasingly sophisticated, globally mobile, and focused on resilience rather than excess risk.

Our ambition for the Singapore office is not simply growth in assets under management — it is growth in trust, capability, and long-term client partnerships.