作者：紀碩鳴
2026年1月，阿尔卑斯山寒风中的达沃斯世界经济论坛，美国总统唐纳·特朗普（Donald Trump）亲临发表了特别演讲，强调其「美国优先」政策、话题带出格陵兰、欧洲安全与美国战略利益; 同一场合，加拿大总理马克·卡尼（Mark Carney）震撼全场的特别演说，将经济学家的严谨与政治领袖的决断结合，直言：我们正处于一个全球秩序的“断裂期”，而非愚蠢的“转型期”。 两个大国领䄂的演讲，道出了全球权力结构正在发生微妙位移的场景。
作为专业人士，来自美国纽约的亚洲女性韩颖（Shirley Hon）受彭博社邀请参加达沃斯世界经济论坛，她穿梭于不同会议之间，见证了这场世纪峰会的精彩。 对她而言，各類演讲傳遞的意义不在于措辞本身，而在于一个信号：地缘战略如何重新进入经济议程的核心，韓穎明白，当安全议题与贸易议题重新交织，资本的路径就会改变。 而她的工作，正是提前理解这种路径。
韓穎是紐約 Globoconsult 家办顾问服务企业创始人，这位深耕家办领域十馀年的女性，如今已成为连接亚洲家族与华尔街、欧美顶层资源的核心桥梁，在达沃斯的舞台，她見到了不少業界領軍人物，和刚卸任的谷歌前CEO Eric Schmidt見面，他谈的不是人工智能的概念，而是数据中心的电力需求与未来能源瓶颈； 見美国贸易代表团队成员，他們则反复提到“节奏”這个词，言下之意即关税不会一次性摊牌，而会通过阶段性谈判推进。 “资本市场真正关心的是时间表，而不是口号。” 韓穎寫下自己的分析。
让她心里起波澜的是，在多场论坛与闭门会议上，她发现印度代表团极为活跃，而亚洲另一端的身影却并不多见，這讓韓穎有些失落。 她意识到，很多亚洲家族正在全球化配置资产，却很少参与全球化话语。 韓穎明白，作為主要服務亞洲家辦的咨詢企業， “我好像一直在做一件事——主动走进世界更大的系统。”
回到紐約，韩颖（Shirley Hon）又登上纽约哈佛俱乐部的演讲台，向哈佛校友、美国顶级家族主理人分享亚洲家族办公室的治理与跨境发展。 “如果要问，为什么今天的我会站在纽约这样一个全球交汇的舞台上，我常常说，过去的三十年，其实都在为这一刻做准备。 ”韩颖的语气平静却坚定。
Globoconsult，做亚洲家族的“全球护航者”
韓穎的故事，或許就是预设的剧本、既定的轨迹：从 14 岁独自远赴澳洲的勇敢选择，到加拿大争取大学录取的执著，从世界银行、联合国的国际视野，到香港家办的深耕历练，最终在纽约华尔街开启属于自己的创业篇章 —— 这是一位亚洲女性，凭借勇气、韧性与智慧，在全球金融顶层舞台，写下的成长与创业传奇。
在经历了国际商业及家办业数十年的锤练，韓穎不想再按照别人的剧本”演戏”，”我要打造属于自己的舞台，做真正符合自己信仰与价值观的事业。 ”
前些年，当包括花旗、汇丰等多家国际大银行向她伸出橄榄枝，许以高薪高位时，韩颖果断选择创业，创立 Globoconsult—— 一家专注服务亚洲家族办公室的独立顾问机构。
她的创业逻辑，颠覆了行业传统：不卖产品，不依附任何金融机构，只站在家族客户的立场，提供独立、客观、全维度的顾问服务。
“市场上绝大多数家办服务方，本质是‘卖产品’—— 银行推理财、保险公司推保险、私行推资管计划，他们的利益与客户并不完全一致。 而 Globoconsult 收取固定顾问费，利益与客户完全绑定，只为客户的利益代言。 ”韩颖说，这是她创业的核心初心。
经过多年探索与实践，Globoconsult 形成了三大核心优势，成为亚洲家族跨境发展的“ 首选伙伴”包括：
1，全维度跨境规划，解决“信息差”与“信任痛点”。 亚洲家族进军美国、欧美市场，最大的痛点是“不了解规则、信息不对称、难以建立信任”。 Globoconsult 为客户提供家族跨境搬迁、税务筹划、资产整合、架构设计、信托设立、家族治理等全链条顾问服务 —— 从“一本明白账”开始，帮助家族梳理全球资产，优化配置，规避风险，制定长期传承方案。
很多亚洲家族的资产分散在全球，房产、存款、投资各在一处，权属混乱，没有整体规划。 Globoconsult首先帮客户”理清家底”，再设计最适合的架构，推荐顶级第三方服务方（律师、会计师、信托公司），并指导客户管理这些服务方，避免被牵著鼻子走。
2，顶层资源连接，搭建“政商学”专家库。 韩颖凭借在华尔街、达沃斯、美国顶层圈子的积累，搭建了覆盖美国前政要、 外交协会资深人士、军方高层、顶级经济学家、行业权威的专家库。 这些专家不仅能为客户提供地缘政治、经济趋势、投资方向的顶层判断，更能成为家族的“私人智囊”，提供外界无法获取的核心信息与中肯建议。
她說，“我们曾在 1 月份就预测到伊朗地缘冲突与原油市场危机，提前为客户发出风险提示； 我们能连接美国顶层资源，帮助亚洲家族快速融入当地社会，获取真实、有效的投资与发展信息 —— 这是普通私行、 金融机构无法做到的。 ”
3，深耕家族治理，超越“财富”回归“家族”。 在纽约哈佛俱乐部的演讲中，韩颖分享了无数真实案例：娃哈哈、澳门何氏等亚洲顶级家族，面临一代传二代、二代传三代的治理难题； 美国威斯康星州Sargento家族，三代传承中因股权、接班引发家族矛盾，兄弟分家对立等。
“富不过三代，核心不是财富保不住，而是家族治理缺失、情感纽带断裂、规则体系不完善。 ”韩颖强调，Globoconsult 的服务，超越了传统资产管理，深入家族治理核心 —— 帮助家族制定家族宪章、明确投票权、规范信托运营、解决继承与婚姻风险、传承家族文化与精神，真正实现“财富与家族同步传承”。
14 岁的选择，奠定“敢闯敢争”的人生底色
一切的起点，始于 14 岁那个“有点极端”的决定。 当年，韩颖隨父母來到香港，很快察觉到环境的同化效应，担心被同龄人的价值观束缚。 没有犹豫，她果断向父母提出：独自前往澳大利亚墨尔本求学。 14 岁，孤身一人，环境陌生，语言不通，这对絕大多数少年而言难以想象，却成为韩颖人生第一堂“独立课”。
初到墨尔本，她就给自己立下目标：进入当地最好的女子学校 ——Methodist Ladies’ College。 没有中介引荐，没有人陪同，她拿著地图，一路詢问找到学校，直接走进校长办公室。 用著并不流利、甚至有些结巴的英语，真诚地表达自己的求学渴望。
校长 Ms. Storelli 被这位东方少女的勇气打动，面试后亲自为她戴上校徽。 “那一刻，我第一次真正体会到：勇气，可以改变命运。 ”韩颖说，从此她心中笃定一个信念：只要敢想敢试，就没有什么不可能。 这份少年时养成的胆识与魄力，成为她日后穿越无数困境、不断突破边界的核心力量。
命运的考验接踵而来。 随家人移民加拿大温哥华后，韩颖的目标锁定顶级学府 UBC（英属哥伦比亚大学），却因澳洲与加拿大学分体系不同，遭遇录取拒绝。 曾在墨尔本拿下接近满分成绩、手握双学位录取通知的她，面临在加拿大“无大学可读”的困境。
面遇困境，韩颖选择“争取到底”。 她执笔写下一封正式申诉信，递交 UBC 招生委员会，清晰阐述：“若因我是新移民、因我在另一个国家接受教育就拒绝我，这本身就是不公平，甚至是歧视。 ”
这封有理有据的申诉信，让学校专门为她召开特别招生评审会议 —— 她最终被破格录取。 这次经历，让韩颖深刻领悟到西方社会的核心逻辑：有规则可循，懂规则、用规则，就能进入体系，甚至改变结果。 这份对规则的理解与运用，日后成为她在国际商务、家办领域纵横捭阖的关键能力。
从世界银行到联合国，炼就“连接者”的核心能力
大学毕业后，韩颖更具勇气还增添她追㝷”广阔世界”的底氣。
因緣机遇她走进华盛顿世界银行。 两个月的实习，她做著整理材料、协调会议的基础工作，却主动突破岗位边界，毛遂自荐走进世界银行交易场面试，只为争取留下的机会。 这段短暂的经历，没有给她带来耀眼的职位，却打开了前所未有的视野：“世界很大，我不应该停留在任何一个地方。 ”
紧接著，她来到欧洲 —— 这片培养她“服务精神”与“从 0 到 1”能力的土地。 早在高中毕业时，韩颖最向往的就是瑞士顶级酒店管理学院 EHL，从小她就热爱服务他人，追求把事情做到极致。 在瑞士卢加诺大学攻读研究生期间，她师从著名经济学家 Rico Maggi 教授，入学仅一周就主动找到教授：“我有能力，我可以帮您做事。 ”
凭著这股主动与执著，她不仅成为教授助教，更站上讲台，为学弟学妹讲授经济学课程。 更为重要的是，她从零到一搭建了学校首个国际学生课程体系—— 这段“把不可能变成可能”的经历，让她彻底掌握了“从无到有”的创业思维， 也让她享受这类突破与创造的过程。
走出象牙塔，韩颖加入联合国全球契约组织，负责搭建中国区平台，担任对外联络事务负责人。 上任第一周，她就登上央视国际频道，进行全英文直播访谈，当时正值巴菲特访华推动慈善理念，而“企业社会责任（CSR）”在当时的中国尚属新兴概念。
她的任务，是在中国顶级央企（中钢集团、国家电网、中国石油、中国石化、国家开发银行等）与跨国企业（巴斯夫、西门子、欧姆龙等）之间，搭建企业社会责任对话平台。 没有现成资源，她就“一个一个去敲门”，凭著专业与执著，半年后成功在北京举办首届论坛。
这段经历，让韩颖清晰定位了自己的终身角色：Bridge Builder（连接者）—— 连接不同国家、不同领域、不同资源，搭建沟通桥梁，解决信息不对称，创造价值共生。 这份定位，成为她日后深耕家办领域、创业 Globoconsult 的核心逻辑。
从香港到纽约，走进资本与家族的核心
2010 年代初，韩颖应邀加入香港一家顶级家族办公室，担任 Chief of Staff，正式开启长达十馀年的家办职业生涯。 这里，是她真正走进投资、产业、跨国资源整合核心的舞台。
在香港家办的岁月里，她参与石油天然气、新媒体、体育、科技投资等多领域业务，其中最浓墨重彩的一笔，是 2017 年在深圳创建中国首支职业女子冰球俱乐部，并担任总经理。
当时的深圳，没有职业冰球场馆，没有冰球文化，一切从零开始。 她带领团队，将篮球馆改造为专业冰球馆，对接深圳文体局，招募国际教练与球员，搭建运营体系、参与联赛竞技。 这段“白手起家”的历程异常艰辛，却让她再次验证：自己最擅长的，就是把“没有的东西做出来”。 如今，这支球队依旧是全国联赛与国际赛事的冠军之师，成为她职业生涯中独特的标签。
十馀年的家办深耕，让韩颖看透了行业的本质：真正的家族办公室，从不只是资产管理、财富保全，而是涵盖家族治理、文化传承、二代培养、跨境规划、情感纽带的“全维度服务”。 市场上多数机构将家办狭隘理解为卖保险、做私行、配置资产，却忽略了家族最核心的需求 —— 如何在财富传承中，解决家族成员矛盾、完善治理机制、实现文化与精神的延续。
这份深刻的行业洞察，加上多年跨国、跨领域的历练，让韩颖萌生了一个清晰的念头：为亚洲家族打造真正以客户利益为核心的独立顾问服务，搭建连接亚洲与华尔街、欧美顶层资源的桥梁。
而实现这一梦想的舞台，她锁定了纽约华尔街—— 全球金融资源、顶层人脉、专业服务的交汇点。
2022 年初，一个机会降临：一家东南亚顶级家族办公室落户华尔街，向韩颖发出邀请。 这正是她梦寐以求的“敲门砖”—— 从小向往华尔街，渴望站在全球金融顶峰的愿望，终于实现。
在这家华尔街家办的三年，是韩颖“快速迭代、全面积累”的黄金期。 她从首席幕僚做起，深入学习美国资本市场规则，参与上市公司收购、董秘工作、美国证监会合规管理、跨境投资与税务规划…… 没有周末，没有休闲，她把所有时间用于“补课”，快速掌握华尔街的运行逻辑、美国家办的运作模式、第三方服务机构的管理方法。
更为重要的是，她凭借专业、真诚与独特的亚洲女性视角，快速融入纽约顶级家办圈。 从最初的“学习者”，到后来的“分享者”，她逐步建立起覆盖美国东岸绝大多数顶级家办、顶级律师事务所、会计师事务所、政商资源的人脉网络。
在纽约，她深刻感受到：这座城市是精英的聚集地，更是“价值交换、信用为王”的舞台。 作为华人面孔，不必自卑，反而拥有独特的优势 ——真实、专业、守信，就是最好的名片。 凭借多年累积的信誉与能力，她在华尔街站稳了脚跟，終于也迎来了职业生涯的第三次转折：创业，写自己的剧本，演自己的戏。
从 14 岁独闯墨尔本，到如今在华尔街创业立业； 从国际组织的“连接者”，到亚洲家族的“护航者”，韩颖的人生，始终贯穿著“勇气”与“真诚”。 她从不迷信“规划”，而是相信“选择、争取、坚持”； 她从不追求“虚名”，而是坚守“信用、专业、价值”； 她从不局限于“小我”，而是致力于“连接东西、共生共赢”。
如今，Globoconsult 的业务已全面展开，越来越多亚洲家族慕名而来，寻求跨境发展与家族传承的专业支持。 韩颖也依旧活跃在全球顶级舞台：达沃斯世界经济论坛上，她呼吁亚洲声音被更多人听见； 纽约各大顶级论坛上，她分享家办智慧与全球视野； 她还通过个人公众号、社交平台，记录历程、分享干货，成为行业内独树一帜的“原创分享者”。
【附：英文翻译】
Shirley Hon: Conversations at Davos, Building a Family Office Dream on Wall Street
By Ji Shuoming
In January 2026, amid the bitter alpine winds of the World Economic Forum in Davos, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a special address — reaffirming his “America First” policy and touching on Greenland, European security, and American strategic interests. At the same forum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech that stunned the audience, fusing an economist’s precision with a statesman’s resolve. He spoke plainly: we are living through a “rupture” in the global order — not some tidy “transition.” The words of these two leaders laid bare a subtle but unmistakable shift in the architecture of global power.
Among the professionals in attendance was Shirley Hon — an Asian woman based in New York City — who had been invited by Bloomberg to the World Economic Forum. She moved between sessions, witnessing this landmark summit firsthand. For her, the significance of the speeches lay not in the rhetoric itself, but in the signal they sent: geostrategy is once again moving to the center of the economic agenda. Shirley understood that when security and trade policy become intertwined again, capital flows change. And her work is precisely about anticipating that shift.
Shirley is the founder of Globoconsult, a New York-based family office advisory firm. A woman who has spent more than a decade immersed in the family office space, she has become a key bridge connecting Asian families with Wall Street and the top-tier networks of the U.S. and Europe. At Davos, she met a number of industry leaders. Her conversation with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was not about artificial intelligence as a concept — it was about the electricity demands of data centers and the looming energy bottlenecks of the future. She also met with members of the U.S. trade representative’s team, who repeatedly invoked the word “pace” — signaling that tariffs would not be played all at once, but rather advanced through phased negotiations. “What capital markets really care about is the timeline, not the slogan,” Shirley wrote in her analysis.
What truly moved her was a pattern she noticed across multiple forums and closed-door meetings: the Indian delegation was extraordinarily active, while voices from elsewhere in Asia were notably scarce. It left her with a quiet sense of loss. She came to realize that many Asian families are allocating assets globally while rarely engaging in the global conversation. As the founder of an advisory firm that primarily serves Asian family offices, she reflected: “I feel like I’ve always been doing one thing — proactively stepping into the world’s larger systems.”
Back in New York, Shirley took the stage at the Harvard Club of New York City, where she spoke to Harvard alumni and principals of prominent American family offices about governance and cross-border development for Asian family offices. “If you ask why I’m standing today on a global stage like New York, I often say that the past thirty years have been one long preparation for this moment.” Her tone was calm, but unmistakably resolute.
Globoconsult: The “Global Navigator” for Asian Families
Shirley’s story reads almost like a script written in advance — a path laid out long before she could see it. From the bold decision at 14 to leave home and study in Australia on her own, to the tenacious fight for a university spot in Canada; from the international perspective gained at the World Bank and United Nations, to years of deep immersion in family office work in Hong Kong — and finally, the launch of her own venture on Wall Street in New York. It is the story of an Asian woman who, through courage, resilience, and intelligence, carved out her own legend of growth and entrepreneurship at the very top of global finance.
After decades of experience in international business and family office work, Shirley had no interest in playing a role scripted by someone else. “I want to build my own stage and do work that truly reflects my own beliefs and values.”
When multiple major international banks — including Citibank and HSBC — came calling with high-paying leadership positions, Shirley turned them all down and chose instead to start her own company: Globoconsult, an independent advisory firm focused exclusively on serving Asian family offices.
Her founding philosophy challenges industry convention. Globoconsult doesn’t sell products. It is not affiliated with any financial institution. It stands entirely on the client’s side — offering independent, objective, comprehensive advisory services.
“The vast majority of family office service providers in the market are, at their core, product sellers — banks push wealth management products, insurance companies push policies, private banks push asset management plans. Their interests are not fully aligned with the client’s. Globoconsult charges a fixed advisory fee and is fully aligned with the client’s interests. We advocate only for the client.” That, Shirley says, is the founding principle at the heart of her firm.
Over years of exploration and practice, Globoconsult has developed three core competitive strengths, making it the “first-choice partner” for Asian families pursuing cross-border development:
1.Comprehensive Cross-Border Planning — Bridging the Information Gap and the Trust Gap
For Asian families entering the U.S. and European markets, the biggest pain points are not knowing the rules, facing information asymmetry, and struggling to build trust. Globoconsult provides end-to-end advisory services across family relocation, tax planning, asset consolidation, structural design, trust formation, and family governance — starting with a clear, honest assessment of the full picture, helping families map their global assets, optimize allocations, manage risk, and build long-term succession strategies.
Many Asian families hold assets scattered across the globe — real estate here, deposits there, investments elsewhere — with overlapping ownership and no coherent overall plan. Globoconsult’s first step is to help clients “get a clear picture of what they actually have,” then design the most suitable structure, recommend top-tier third-party service providers (attorneys, accountants, trust companies), and coach clients on how to manage those providers — so they’re never led by the nose.
2.Access to Elite Networks — Building a Brain Trust Spanning Business, Government, and Academia
Drawing on her connections built across Wall Street, Davos, and America’s top-tier circles, Shirley has assembled a network of experts that includes former U.S. government officials, senior figures from the Council on Foreign Relations, senior military leaders, top economists, and leading industry authorities. These experts can offer clients high-level, forward-looking perspective on geopolitics, economic trends, and investment direction — and serve as a family’s “private brain trust,” providing core insights and candid counsel unavailable through ordinary channels.
“We correctly anticipated the Iran geopolitical conflict and the crude oil market crisis back in January, and issued early risk alerts to our clients. We can connect Asian families to top-tier American networks, helping them integrate quickly, and access real, actionable investment and business intelligence — something a typical private bank or financial institution simply cannot do.”
3.Deep Family Governance — Going Beyond “Wealth” to Focus on the “Family”
In her address at the Harvard Club, Shirley drew on a wide range of real-world cases: iconic Asian family enterprises like Wahaha and the Ho family of Macau grappling with the challenges of transitioning wealth from first generation to second, and second to third; the Sargento family of Wisconsin facing internal divisions over equity and succession that splintered brothers into opposing camps across three generations.
”‘Wealth doesn’t survive three generations’ — the real issue isn’t that the money runs out. It’s the absence of family governance, the breakdown of emotional bonds, and the lack of a clear rules-based system.” Globoconsult’s work, Shirley emphasizes, goes well beyond traditional asset management. It reaches into the core of family governance — helping families draft family charters, clarify voting rights, regulate trust operations, address inheritance and marital risk, and carry forward the family’s culture and values. The goal is the true co-transmission of wealth and family.
A Decision at 14 — The Foundation of a “Bold and Tenacious” Life
Every thread of Shirley’s story traces back to one decision that, by her own description, was “a bit extreme” — made at 14 years old.
Her family had relocated to Hong Kong, and Shirley quickly sensed the homogenizing pull of the environment. She was afraid of having her values and worldview shaped by the crowd around her. Without hesitation, she went to her parents with a proposal: let her go to Melbourne, Australia — alone — to study. At 14, by herself, in an unfamiliar place, with almost no English — it was something most teenagers couldn’t begin to imagine. For Shirley, it became her first real lesson in self-reliance.
From the moment she arrived in Melbourne, she set her sights on getting into one of the city’s top girls’ schools: Methodist Ladies’ College. She had no agent, no escort. Armed with a map, she asked her way to the school and walked directly into the principal’s office — and in English that was halting, sometimes stumbling, she spoke sincerely about her desire to learn.
Principal Ms. Storelli was moved by the courage of this young girl from the East. After the interview, she personally pinned the school badge on Shirley’s lapel. “That was the first time I truly felt it: courage can change your destiny.” From that moment, she carried a conviction with her: if you dare to imagine and dare to try, nothing is impossible. The boldness she built as a teenager became the force that would carry her through countless future obstacles and across ever-expanding horizons.
The trials kept coming. After her family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, Shirley set her sights on UBC — the University of British Columbia — only to be rejected because her Australian credits didn’t transfer under Canada’s academic system. The same student who had nearly topped her class in Melbourne, who held acceptance letters from dual-degree programs, suddenly found herself in Canada with no university willing to take her.
Facing that wall, Shirley chose to fight back. She wrote a formal letter of appeal to UBC’s admissions committee, making a clear and reasoned case: “If you reject me simply because I am a new immigrant — because I received my education in another country — that is unjust. That is, in fact, discrimination.”
That letter was so compelling that the university convened a special admissions review specifically on her behalf — and she was admitted as an exception. The experience gave Shirley a deep insight into the underlying logic of Western institutions: there are rules, and if you understand them and know how to use them, you can work within the system — and sometimes change its outcomes. That fluency in navigating rules would become one of her defining strengths throughout her career in international business and family office advisory.
From the World Bank to the United Nations — Forging the Skills of a “Connector”
After graduating from college, Shirley’s boldness had only grown — along with her hunger to find a bigger world.
An opportunity brought her to the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Two months of internship work — sorting materials, coordinating meetings. But she wasn’t content to stay within those lines. She put herself forward for an interview on the World Bank’s trading floor, chasing any chance to stay longer. The stint didn’t lead to a title, but it opened something far more valuable: “The world is enormous. I shouldn’t stay put in any one place.”
From there, she headed to Europe — the continent where she developed her instinct for service and her ability to build things from nothing. Since high school, one of her greatest aspirations had been EHL, the renowned Swiss hospitality management school. She had always loved serving people and had always pushed to do things at the highest level. During her graduate studies at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, she found her way to the office of noted economist Professor Rico Maggi within her first week of classes. Her opening line: “I have the ability to help. Let me work with you.”
That initiative paid off. She became his research assistant — and eventually stood at the front of the lecture hall, teaching economics to younger students. More significantly, she late built the first international student curriculum for HTW Chur entirely from scratch. That experience of turning nothing into something gave her a complete command of an entrepreneurial mindset — and a genuine love of that kind of breakthrough and creation.
Leaving academia, Shirley joined the United Nations Global Compact and was tasked with building its China platform, serving as head of external relations. In her first week on the job, she appeared on CCTV International for a live, full-English interview — at a moment when Warren Buffett’s visit to China was drawing attention to the concept of philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) was still a relatively new idea in China.
Her mission was to create a dialogue platform around CSR connecting China’s top state-owned enterprises — SINOSTEEL, State Grid, CNPC, Sinopec, China Development Bank — with multinational corporations like BASF, Siemens, and Omron. With no existing infrastructure, she went door to door, building relationship by relationship. Within six months, she had organized the inaugural forum in Beijing.
That chapter of her life crystallized a role she would carry for the rest of her career: Bridge Builder — connecting different countries, different industries, different resources; building channels of communication; resolving information asymmetry; creating mutual value. It became the core logic behind everything she would later do in the family office world, and ultimately behind the founding of Globoconsult.
From Hong Kong to New York — Into the Heart of Capital and Family
In the early 2010s, Shirley was brought on as Chief of Staff at one of Hong Kong’s leading family offices, launching what would become more than a decade of professional work in the field. It was here that she stepped fully into the world of investment, industry, and the integration of cross-border resources.
During her years at the Hong Kong family office, she worked across oil and gas, new media, sports, and technology investment. The most distinctive chapter of that period came in 2017, when she founded China’s first professional women’s ice hockey club in Shenzhen — and served as its General Manager.
At the time, Shenzhen had no professional ice rink, no hockey culture, and nothing to build on. She led a team that converted a basketball arena into a proper ice facility, partnered with the Shenzhen Cultural and Sports Bureau, recruited international coaches and players, built out operations, and entered the competitive league circuit. It was grueling, built entirely from the ground up — and it confirmed, once again, what she did best: creating something out of nothing. Today, that team remains a champion in national league play and in international competition — a singular marker in her professional biography.
More than a decade in the family office world gave Shirley a clear-eyed view of what the industry actually is. A real family office is never just asset management and wealth preservation — it encompasses family governance, cultural legacy, next-generation development, cross-border planning, and the emotional bonds that hold a family together. Most firms in the market define family offices narrowly: sell insurance, run private banking, allocate assets. They overlook what families need most — how to navigate the tensions between family members through the wealth transfer process, how to build sound governance, how to carry forward a family’s culture and spirit across generations.
That depth of industry insight — combined with years of experience across borders and industries — crystallized a clear vision: to build truly independent advisory services for Asian families, where the client’s interests come first, and to create a bridge connecting Asia with Wall Street and the top-tier networks of the U.S. and Europe.
The stage she chose to make that vision real was Wall Street in New York — the intersection of global financial resources, elite relationships, and world-class professional services.
In early 2022, the opportunity arrived: a leading Southeast Asian family office was establishing its presence on Wall Street and reached out to Shirley with an invitation. It was the door she had been waiting for — a chance to stand, finally, at the peak of global finance she had dreamed of reaching since childhood.
The three years that followed were a period of rapid growth and full-spectrum immersion. Starting as Chief of Staff, she dove deep into the rules of the U.S. capital markets — participating in public company acquisitions, corporate secretary work, SEC compliance management, and cross-border investment and tax planning. No weekends, no downtime. She devoted every hour to learning — quickly absorbing the operating logic of Wall Street, the mechanics of American family offices, and the best practices for managing third-party service providers.
More importantly, through professionalism, authenticity, and the distinctive perspective she brought as an Asian woman, she steadily built her way into New York’s top-tier family office community. From someone learning the ropes, she became someone sharing knowledge. Over time, she built a network spanning the great majority of leading family offices, top law firms, and accounting firms along the East Coast — along with access to business, government, and policy circles.
In New York, she came to feel deeply what this city truly is: a gathering place for the elite, a stage where value is exchanged and reputation is everything. As a Chinese face in that world, there is no need for self-doubt — there is, in fact, a distinctive advantage. Being genuine, professional, and trustworthy is the best calling card there is. On the strength of those qualities, built over many years, she found her footing on Wall Street — and eventually reached the third major turning point of her career: starting her own company. Writing her own script. Performing her own role.
From a 14-year-old striking out alone for Melbourne, to building a business on Wall Street; from a “connector” in international organizations, to a “navigator” for Asian families — courage and authenticity have been the constants running through every chapter of Shirley Hon’s life. She has never put much faith in elaborate plans; she believes in making choices, fighting for what matters, and staying the course. She has never chased hollow prestige; she has held to trust, expertise, and value. She has never been content to think small; she has always worked toward connecting East and West, and building something where everyone wins.
Today, Globoconsult is fully in operation. More and more Asian families are seeking out the firm for professional support on cross-border expansion and family succession planning. Shirley remains active on the world’s most prominent stages: at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she calls for Asian voices to be heard more widely; at New York’s leading forums, she shares insights on family office strategy and global perspective; and through her personal public account and social platforms, she documents her journey and shares substantive, practical knowledge — standing out as an original and distinctive voice in the industry.