Q1: How did the business perform in 2025, and what drove its growth over the past year? How has the cost-income ratio trended this year, and what were the key factors influencing it? Looking ahead, what are your main priorities and strategic plans for 2026?

Lighthouse Canton delivered a milestone year in 2025, surpassing US$5 billion in assets under management and securing a transformational US$40 million strategic investment from Peak XV Partners, the firm’s first external capital raise in a decade. This endorsement validated Lighthouse Canton’s evolution from a high-growth independent Asian wealth manager into a fully institutional, multi-asset investment firm with global ambition.

Growth in 2025 was driven by:

• Product innovation, particularly in private credit, real estate, venture debt, and capital markets capabilities.
• Digital transformation, with substantial enhancements to the LC Vantage platform and enterprise-grade analytics.
• Strategic talent acquisition, strengthening global leadership across wealth, asset management, and key client solutions.
• Resilient client asset growth, supported by strong account acquisition despite global market volatility.

The cost-income ratio reflected planned investment in technology and headcount, positioning the firm to scale efficiently as it targets its next phase of growth.

Backed by Peak XV funding, Lighthouse Canton is entering its next decade with a bold vision: “10 Years Strong, 10x Ahead.”

Our strategic priorities for 2026 include:

• Doubling AUM to US$10 billion by 2027, supported by deeper institutional partnerships and differentiated alternatives capabilities.
• Doubling headcount to over 400 professionals, ensuring institutional-grade delivery across front, middle, and back office.
• Accelerated AI integration, enhancing speed across the board, specifically around product development and operational efficiency.
• Deepening geographic expansion in Singapore, India, the UAE, and the UK, with targeted entry into new high-growth markets.
• Strengthened governance and risk frameworks, aligned with evolving global regulatory expectations.

Q2: Looking at the investment outlook for 2026, which markets and asset classes are you prioritising for client portfolios to capture opportunities while managing risks? How are clients currently allocating their portfolios, and what trends are you seeing in DPM adoption and investment behaviour?

Markets are currently focused on two main issues: the macro environment with implications for the pace and size of monetary easing, and concerns around an AI bubble. 

On the macro front, Lighthouse Canton assesses risks as balanced between slowing growth/labour markets and tariff-led inflationary pressures. This balanced risk view leads to expectations that interest rates will ease but not significantly unless the macro environment deteriorates substantially. 

Regarding AI bubble concerns, while acknowledging market exuberance exists, we believe it’s premature to declare it completely irrational. We recognise AI’s genuine transformative power while remaining vigilant about potential over-investment and capital misallocation that could eventually become detrimental to investment returns.

While we expect volatility, we also see it as premature to call an end to this “bubble”. From an investment advice perspective, we remain growth-biased but manage risks dynamically based on fundamental and price signals.

Q3: With artificial intelligence increasingly shaping the wealth industry, how has the firm leveraged technology and AI to transform processes and enhance value for both clients and the back office? What key technology upgrades were introduced in 2025, and what are your digital priorities for 2026 and beyond?

Lighthouse Canton has positioned itself at the forefront of embracing AI’s power to enhance analytical capabilities and operational efficiency while ensuring data privacy through enterprise-level solutions. 

Within the investment team, AI has been leveraged substantially across three critical dimensions: delivering an expanded coverage footprint, accelerating speed-to-market on cutting-edge analysis, and enabling rapid development of new portfolios, especially in systematic alpha strategies. 

The team now routinely deploys AI tools for improving visualisations in both internal analytics and external client communications, transforming how investment insights are generated, analysed, and presented. This investment-focused AI adoption complements the firm’s broader technology infrastructure built on the proprietary LC Vantage platform, launched in 2023 and continuously enhanced through 2025 as a full-stack digital private banking solution providing access to 50+ global markets in 20+ currencies across 14+ asset sub-classes.

Lighthouse Canton continues to enhance its technology infrastructure through strategic partnerships with leading global institutional custodians and platforms. The firm’s integration with BNY Mellon Pershing provides segregated custody with US$1 billion investor protection, positioning Lighthouse Canton as “the only Asian non-bank financial institution with this level of integration.” Complementing this, the partnership with Clearstream delivers institutional-grade custody and settlement capabilities across global markets.

Q4: The private banking industry saw a plethora of leadership and structural changes in 2025. Looking into 2026, what are your key priorities for attracting and retaining talent across the front, middle, and back office? Are there plans for new hires in key markets

Amid a year marked by widespread leadership turnover, cost rationalisation, and structural shifts across global private banks, 2025 created unprecedented talent dislocation in the sector. Throughout this turbulence, Lighthouse Canton remained anchored to its long-term strategy and ultimately emerged as a net beneficiary of the industry reset.

Our integrated model, combining separate wealth management and asset management businesses within one entrepreneurial organisation with institutional rigour, has become a clear differentiator for senior professionals seeking both stability and a meaningful growth runway. 

While traditional private banks are often constrained by legacy structures and pure-play managers lack breadth in client solutions, Lighthouse Canton’s holistic platform empowers talent to engage clients across advisory, discretionary mandates, capital markets, and the full spectrum of alternative investments. This value proposition underpinned the firm’s ability to secure transformational leadership hires from leading global institutions in 2025.

Looking ahead to 2026, Lighthouse Canton’s talent agenda is grounded in the realities of its core markets — Singapore, India, the UAE, and the UK — each with distinct talent dynamics. The firm is advancing a dual-track strategy: continuing to attract seasoned senior professionals from top-tier global banks while simultaneously investing in the next generation of high-potential talent who can grow with the organisation and reinforce its long-term institutional strength.