Popular investment vehicles in Singapore

Updated on January 2026

• Singapore Limited Partnership
• Singapore Variable Capital Company
• Singapore Real Estate Investment Trust (S-REIT)
• Private Limited Company

• Limited Partnership

• Corporate entity 

• Trust / collective investment scheme

• Private limited company

• Tax transparent

• Taxable as a corporate entity but can avail itself of one of a range of fund-specific tax incentives that can reduce the corporate tax rate to zero

• Tax transparent (provided at least 90% of income is distributed to unitholders and income is derived from Singapore properties or Singapore-approved properties)

• Income taxableat corporate income tax rate (17% at date of publication)

• Nil but stamp duty and GST may still apply depending on the assets held by the LP.

• The share duty rate is 0.2%

• Nil

• The share duty rate is 0.2%

• No

• Yes

• Yes

• Yes

• Open-ended and closed-ended

• Open-ended and closed-ended

• Closed-ended

• Closed-ended

• Must register as a limited partnership with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore.
• Manager may require a licence unless exemptions apply and registration with the regulator may be required depending on profile of target investors.

• Incorporation is governed by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore.
• Needs a Singapore based licensed or regulated fund manager - licensing is governed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

• REIT managers must hold a capital services licenses for REIT management issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

• Incorporation is governed by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore.
• Manager may require a licence unless exemptions apply and registration with the regulator may be required depending on profile of target investors.

• No prohibition against retail but typically used for private funds targeting accredited or institutional investors otherwise prospectus requirements and other regulatory requirements would be engaged.

• No prohibition against retail but typically used for private funds targeting accredited or institutional investors otherwise prospectus requirements and other regulatory requirements would be engaged.

• None

• None

• Very flexible unregulated tax transparent vehicle

• Flexible and tax efficient regulated vehicle
• Can be used as an umbrella fund structure, allowing cost-efficient management of multiple segregated sub-funds.
• It can avail itself of Singapore’s extensive network of tax treaties (not available to limited partnerships).
• Register of shareholders is not publicly available.

• Tax transparent vehicle

• Ease of setup and familiarity with structure.

• Tax transparency means that the LP cannot (by itself) benefit from Singapore’s network of tax treaties.
• Investors must be cautious not to participate in management or risk losing limited liability status.

• Requirement for Singapore-based licensed or registered fund manager limits certain use cases.

• Leverage is capped at 50% with minimum interest coverage ratio of 1.5x.

• Not tax transparent.
• Subject to restrictions on dividend payment and return of capital to investors.
• Register of shareholders is publicly available.

• All strategies 

• All strategies

• Real estate investments

• All strategies

Disclaimer: “Information in this guide for any particular country or topic may have been subject to change since the date to which it was prepared”