Asia’s Family Office Frenzy Comes With Plenty of Imposters

As Edoardo Collevecchio was getting ready to speak at a conference in Singapore, he recognized the family office that employed a fellow panelist. But as they exchanged small talk, Collevecchio noticed something was off — the executive couldn’t answer basic questions about his firm and didn’t even recognize the name of an owner.

It soon became clear the ‘executive’ had never worked for the family office directly, and had misrepresented his status. An awkward snip later, the panel went ahead — minus one speaker.

From the conference halls of Singapore to events hosted by top Hong Kong officials, the ultra-wealthy ...