When Bebemona Yim walked away from more than 15 years in advertising, she did not join her family’s herbal tea business, Kung Wo Tong. She started her own.

Her bestseller is a sachet of red dates, roselle, rose and hawthorn mixed with collagen – a long way from the bitter black brews her family has served in Hong Kong for three generations.

Yim is part of a generation of Hong Kong daughters who are inheriting family businesses in F&B and well beyond. UOB Private Bank and Boston Consulting Group project that private wealth in Asia will reach US$99 trillion by 2029, with Hong Kong and Singapore as its main hubs. Yet a 2025 Sun Life survey found only 27 per cent of Hong Kong family-business owners had a fully developed succession plan, and across six major Asian markets, just 31 per cent of heirs outside the business were fully prepared to take over.

The city already has prominent examples of daughters at the top. Sonia Cheng, granddaughter of the late tycoon Cheng Yu-tung, took charge of Rosewood Hotel Group at 28 and has grown it to 60 hotels in 26 countries. Pansy Ho, daughter of the late Stanley Ho, is group executive chairman of Shun Tak Holdings and has been involved in the conglomerate since the ’90s. Irene Lee, granddaughter of Hysan Development founder Lee Hysan, chairs the company and is overseeing the expansion of its Lee Gardens estate.

But the path is not straightforward. “Having the financial resources to plan is rarely the problem,” says Regina Ho, co-chair of the Professional Body Community for non-profit HK4Families. The harder issues are psychological and cultural, she says, including a long-standing preference for sons. “Legitimacy remains a ‘step-by-step’ for daughters while sons are still presumed ready.”

Elaine Chow, part of the editorial team at HK4Families, is wary of generalising, but notes some differences in how women lead. “From a family wealth investment [standpoint], women tend to be more multigenerational in outlook.”

Yvonne Kam is the granddaughter of Kam Shui-fai, who founded the storied roast goose restaurant Yung Kee in 1942. She became the group’s CFO after a turbulent period in the company and the dining world at large.

“F&B has traditionally been a male-dominated industry with a predominantly masculine management style, but as a female leader, I’ve brought a more balanced, approachable and collaborative culture to the table,” she says. “I believe in the strength of soft power.”That approach extends to how she modernises. In 2019, she launched Yung’s Bistro at K11 Musea, a more relaxed spin-off of the restaurant with cocktails. The roasting techniques are untouched. “Protecting our core is non-negotiable,” she says.

Alexa Bui faces a similar balancing act as the marketing director of Pak Loh Chiu Chow restaurant, which her family opened in Causeway Bay in 1967. She spent almost two decades as a make-up artist and fitness professional, which taught her to read a room in an industry still dominated by men. “I don’t think you need to change who you are to earn a place at the table.”She pushed to open a private kitchen in Central, where she grew up, to bring Chiu Chow cooking to younger diners. “I don’t want tradition to feel like something that belongs only in the past,” she says.

Similarly, Yim sees no competition with the original tea shop, reasoning that “it’s always better to make the pie bigger”. And she still carries her grandfather’s creed. “We just need to do good stuff ourselves [and] keep up the quality,” she says.

Yim studied Chinese medicine nutrition at Hong Kong Baptist University, launched herbal tea shop Gui Ling Yuan Fang in 2010 and moved into tea bags during the pandemic. Two years ago, she joined Genesis Network, an invite-only community for next-generation family business leaders, but chose to build alongside the family business rather than inside it with her next venture. Long hours had left her with chronic health problems, and Chinese medicine doctors pointed her back to her roots. This year, Yim set up Glowe, which pairs Chinese medicine with modern nutrition science.

Her advertising instincts still guide her. “I will look at it from the audience perspective rather than a business perspective,” she says.

Each of these women says gender shapes the way they lead. “Being a woman in this industry has also taught me the importance of understanding people and building trust,” says Bui.

Kam stresses “leading with empathy and open communication”, while Yim cites “the way that we communicate or the way we negotiate” as an advantage that women bring to the table.

For Ho though, the real question goes beyond gender. “I think the question that should be asked is not about leadership style but what the family enterprise needs to future-proof itself – who can and will take up the baton.”