ONE Pass Investment Management Track Guide

How do you assess a work pass applicant’s salary when a large share of their pay is not a salary at all, but a share of profits that may not crystallise for years? That question sits behind one of the more closely watched announcements in Singapore’s recent immigration calendar: the proposed ONE Pass Investment Management Track. Unveiled by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on 19 August 2026 as part of a wider Asset Management Hub package, the new track is meant to widen the Overseas Networks & Expertise (ONE) Pass so it better fits how senior fund managers are actually paid, through carried interest and performance fees rather than a flat monthly cheque.

The Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass has grown quickly since its January 2023 launch: MOM’s own figures show holder numbers rising from about 3,600 in December 2023 to 6,300 in December 2024 and roughly 8,500 by December 2025, with close to 70 percent of holders working in financial and insurance services, information and communication, or professional services as at December 2025, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s ONE Pass page (as at 08 September 2026). Against that backdrop, a track built specifically for asset management talent is a logical next step, and it arrives alongside a proposed carried-interest tax exemption that has already been covered in detail on our sister site; see Raffles Corporate Services’ companion piece on MAS’s new Hedge Fund Investment Programme and what it means for fund managers relocating to Singapore for the tax mechanics.

This article focuses on the people side: what the Investment Management Track is proposing to change about who qualifies for a ONE Pass, what MOM and MAS have and have not confirmed as at 08 September 2026, and what fund managers weighing a move to Singapore should be doing right now, even while the fine print is still being written.

The MAS Asset Management Hub Package, in Brief

The 19 August 2026 MAS media release set out a three-part package aimed at keeping Singapore competitive as an asset management hub, an industry MAS says accounts for around 15 percent of the financial sector’s output and 13 percent of its employment, and which grew at an average of 7.5 percent a year over the past five years to almost SGD 7 trillion in assets under management (as at 08 September 2026, per the same release).

Three Measures, One Goal

The package has three strands. First, a proposed tax exemption for qualifying profit-related returns earned by fund managers of qualifying funds, expected to take effect from the Year of Assessment 2027, with further detail promised at Budget 2027. Second, a new MAS Hedge Fund Investment Programme, under which MAS will invest alongside hedge fund managers committed to establishing or expanding a Singapore presence. Third, and the focus of this article, the proposed ONE Pass Investment Management Track, a new route within the existing ONE Pass framework for senior investment professionals. MAS has framed all three as connected: the tax change addresses how carry is taxed, the hedge fund programme addresses capital, and the pass track addresses people. Fund structuring questions arising from the tax side, including which vehicles qualify, are better addressed through a corporate services adviser; readers considering a single family office structure alongside a relocation may also find our colleagues’ single family office setup FAQ useful background reading.

The ONE Pass Investment Management Track: What Is Confirmed, and What Is Not

It is worth being precise here, because a lot of commentary since 19 August 2026 has run ahead of what has actually been published. MAS has confirmed that it intends, together with MOM, to introduce an Investment Management Track under the ONE Pass framework, targeted at global leaders and senior investment professionals who contribute, or have the potential to contribute, significantly to Singapore’s asset management industry. What MAS and MOM have not yet published, as at 08 September 2026, is the full eligibility criteria, the salary or track-record thresholds that will apply, the application form, or an opening date. Anyone telling you the exact numbers today is guessing; this article will not do that.

Why the Existing S$30,000 Salary Test Struggles With Carry

The baseline ONE Pass criteria, unchanged as at 08 September 2026, require either a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 30,000 sustained over the 12 consecutive months before application, evidenced by payslips, or a holistic assessment under an “outstanding achievement” route reviewed jointly by MOM and partner agencies, per the MOM eligibility page for the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass. That fixed-salary test works reasonably well for a chief executive or a specialist on a conventional package. It works far less well for a fund manager whose base salary might sit well under SGD 30,000 a month, with the bulk of real compensation arriving as a carried interest allocation crystallised only when a fund exits its positions, sometimes years after the manager has already relocated. The Investment Management Track is MAS and MOM’s acknowledgement of that mismatch, and it follows a pattern already visible elsewhere in the ONE Pass system: MOM has separately signalled a ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track intended for January 2027 that would let applicants meet the salary criterion through a combination of cash and non-cash components, suggesting the “track” model is becoming MOM’s preferred tool for adapting one framework to different industries rather than building entirely new passes.

ONE Pass Baseline Criteria vs the Investment Management Track

Feature	Current ONE Pass Baseline (as at 08 September 2026)	Investment Management Track (proposed, per 19 August 2026 MAS announcement)
Salary test	Fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 30,000, sustained for 12 consecutive months, shown via payslips	Expected to recognise returns linked to investment performance and fund outcomes alongside fixed pay; exact formula, thresholds and evidentiary standard not yet published
Alternative route	Outstanding achievement in business, sports, the arts, culture, academia or research, assessed holistically with agencies such as MCCY, MOE, NRF and A*STAR	Not yet clarified whether an equivalent achievement-based route will apply to fund managers, or whether the track will use only a modified compensation test
Pass validity and portability	Five-year personalised pass; holder can work for multiple Singapore employers without a fresh pass each time	Expected to sit within the existing ONE Pass structure; MAS and MOM have not indicated any change to validity or portability
Supporting documents	Twelve months of payslips, employment contract, or an achievement dossier	Likely to require evidence of fund performance, carry or promote structure and seniority of role; document list not yet released
Application timeline	Open now; applications processed under existing rules	“Intended” per MAS; no confirmed opening date, application channel or transitional arrangement as at 08 September 2026

The honest summary is that the direction of travel is clear, and welcome, but the mechanics are not yet in the public domain. Fund managers should treat everything in the right-hand column as a policy signal, not a checklist to submit against.

Who This Matters For: Managers of 13D, 13O, 13OA, 13U and 13V Funds

The 19 August 2026 MAS release ties the carried-interest tax exemption, and by extension the immigration conversation around it, to fund managers of qualifying funds under Singapore’s existing fund tax incentive schemes, commonly referenced by their Income Tax Act section numbers: 13D, 13O, 13OA, 13U and 13V. In practice this covers a wide range of structures, from single family offices to licensed fund management companies running Variable Capital Companies. If you are structuring or already running a fund under one of these schemes and expect a meaningful share of your own compensation, or a senior hire’s compensation, to come from carried interest, the Investment Management Track is squarely aimed at your situation, once MOM finalises it.

VCC Directors, Family Offices and the Family-Member Angle

Two related questions come up constantly in our own casework at this stage. The first is how a fund manager’s role sits alongside a directorship of the underlying VCC, since the tests MOM applies to distinguish a genuine director role from an employee role are not identical to the tests applied to a fund manager’s employment; our explainer on the four tests for a VCC director, fund manager and employee walks through how these overlap and where they diverge. The second is family offices bringing in a spouse or adult child as an investment professional rather than only as a beneficiary; the evidentiary bar MAS applies to that arrangement under 13O and 13U funds is covered in our piece on what MAS expects as evidence when a family member is engaged as an investment professional. Both questions will interact with the new track once its criteria are published, because seniority and role substance are likely to matter as much as the compensation structure itself.

How the Tax Exemption and the Pass Track Fit Together

It helps to separate the two workstreams even though MAS announced them together. The proposed tax exemption changes how carried interest is taxed once it is earned in Singapore; it does not, on its own, determine whether a fund manager qualifies for a work pass to be in Singapore earning it. The Investment Management Track changes how MOM assesses eligibility for a specific pass. A fund manager could, in principle, benefit from the tax exemption once finalised while still applying under the ordinary ONE Pass salary test today, or under the Employment Pass framework if the ONE Pass threshold is not met. The two measures are complementary rather than sequential, and neither is contingent on the other being finalised first. For readers focused specifically on the tax mechanics, including which fund vehicles are expected to qualify and the economic substance conditions MAS has flagged, the fuller treatment sits in the companion article on Raffles Corporate Services referenced above rather than here.

What Fund Managers Relocating to Singapore Should Do Now

Waiting for the Investment Management Track’s final criteria before doing anything is not the right posture, because most of the groundwork for any Singapore relocation, pass or no new track, is the same regardless of which route eventually applies.

Documentation to Start Assembling Early

Regardless of which ONE Pass route ultimately fits, start building a file now: audited or administrator-verified fund performance records, a clear description of the carry or promote structure and when it crystallises, evidence of seniority such as investment committee membership or portfolio authority, and a coherent employment or engagement contract with the Singapore entity. Our practical guide to the documents required for a ONE Pass application sets out the baseline document set most applicants still need today, and almost all of it remains relevant however the new track’s specifics land.

Alternative and Complementary Pathways

Fund managers who are also principal investors, rather than purely employed executives, should also look at the Global Investor Programme’s Options A, B and C, which offer a residency route tied to capital deployment rather than employment status, and can run in parallel with pass planning for a management team. For founders who are contributing intellectual property or a track record built overseas before relocating, timing the contract, tax position and pass application in the right sequence matters; our piece on sequencing a foreign founder’s IP contribution, contract and pass application before relocation is directly relevant to fund managers bringing an existing track record or fund brand into Singapore. Longer term, many ONE Pass holders eventually consider Singapore permanent residence; our Singapore PR PTS scheme application playbook is a useful reference for what that later step involves.

Conclusion

The ONE Pass Investment Management Track is a genuine and welcome signal that MOM and MAS recognise how carried interest actually works in fund management, but it remains, as at 08 September 2026, a policy direction rather than a finalised scheme. Fund managers weighing a move to Singapore should treat the comparison table above as a guide to what to watch for, keep building the documentation that any route will require, and avoid committing to a relocation timeline based on assumed thresholds that have not been published. If you are assessing your own eligibility today, whether under the existing ONE Pass criteria, the Employment Pass framework, or in anticipation of the new track, Little Big Employment Agency’s licensed pass application services can help map the options against your actual compensation structure. If your relocation also involves setting up or restructuring a fund vehicle, VCC or single family office in Singapore, Raffles Corporate Services handles the incorporation, fund administration and compliance side of that work.

, The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency