Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 31 to 32 of 32

Thread: No bubble to burst

  1. #31
    Reuters Guest

    Default Singapore Fund Management Assets Grew 24% In 2006

    Assets under management came to nearly US$600b, driven by inflows from Asia and Mideast.
    Reuters Singapore
    4 July 2007

    Assets managed by fund managers in Singapore grew 24% to almost US$600 billion in 2006, driven by inflows from Asia and the Middle East, a Singapore cabinet minister said on Wednesday.

    "Total assets under management have grown robustly over the last six years," said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in a speech today.

    "The assets managed by Singapore-based fund managers grew by 24% to almost US$600 billion in 2006."

    Mr Goh, who is also chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore -- the city-state's central bank -- also said funds from the Middle East and South Asia grew by 21% and 36%, respectively.

    He said 57% of the total assets managed in Singapore were invested in Asia last year.

    Singapore has attracted global asset managers, private banks and hedge funds to boost its fast-growing financial services industry as it tries to reduce the economy's reliance on manufacturing.

    In recent years, several international banks such as UBS , Credit Suisse and Societe Generale have set up their regional private banking offices in Singapore.

    Citigroup earlier this year appointed Deepak Sharma to run its global wealth management business outside the United States from Singapore, making him the bank's only international business head not to be based in New York.

    Millionaires in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, enriched by a doubling of crude oil prices in four years, are placing more funds in Singapore as the city-state cut taxes and offered incentives to investors to compete against Hong Kong and other Asian financial centers.

    "Singapore, in the recent two years, is increasingly considered to be a more attractive place as a fund management base," Mr Chua Soon Hock, managing director of Asia Genesis Asset Management in Singapore, which manages about $450 million, told Bloomberg. "Singapore is still behind Hong Kong and Sydney. However, the gap is narrowing on the hedge funds side of the business."

    The 190 hedge funds in Singapore managed more than S$40 billion of assets, a 150% increase from a year earlier, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in an e-mailed statement today.

    Of the total funds managed in Singapore, 43% came from the Asia Pacific region, while about 35% were from the U.S. and Europe, the central bank said. About 55% of the funds were invested in stocks last year, from 47% a year earlier, it added.

    Last year, Singapore had the biggest growth in the number of millionaires, where individuals with net assets of at least US$1 million, excluding their main residence and consumer goods, rose 21%, a global survey by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch & Co. showed last week.

  2. #32
    G Ng Guest

    Default Banks' Exposure To Property Loans 'Still Below 35% Limit'

    Grace Ng
    Finance Reporter
    The Straits Times
    10 July 2007

    The overall exposure of Singapore banks to property-related loans taken out by investment buyers and financial institutions amid the property boom is rising. But experts are not worried. A new Citigroup report says the percentage is set to climb from 27% of total loans currently to 'closer to 30%' by year-end.

    But this is 'still comfortably below' a regulatory limit of 35%, it said. Foreign banks may be nearer to the limit than local ones, said Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin yesterday.

    All these figures exclude property loans taken out by owner-occupiers - about 80% of all bank loans.

    If banks approach the limit, customers could be charged higher interest rates for investment- related mortgages compared to owner-occupied ones, suggested Dr Chua.

    Mr Paul Kwee, Citigroup Singapore's corporate bank director and head of real estate, noted: 'In view of the recent increase in lending activity, it may well be that certain banks have less appetite, and may become more selective in granting loans, as well as in reviewing the terms that go with the loans.'

    Dr Chua also pointed out that while speculative buying of property has risen and may climb further over the next few years, it is still well below the level seen in the property boom of the mid-1990s.

    So bank-loan exposure to the property sector 'is likely to remain within tolerable limits'.

    In May, about 25% of mortgages taken out by investment buyers and 33% of loans to financial institutions were property-related, estimated Citigroup. This works out to an overall property-related loan exposure for the banking sector of 28.7%, well below the 35% limit.

    The limit was introduced by the MAS in May 2001, as a safeguard to limit the risks of the banking system's exposure to property loans, especially speculative activity.

    But Dr Chua expects 'mortgage growth to accelerate' to near 30% in the next 6 months, as more new property projects are completed and some homebuyers on the deferred payment scheme apply for loans.

    A higher proportion of new mortgages are likely to be investment-related, given the 'already high home ownership in Singapore of about 93%'.

    OCBC Bank has seen the ratio of new applications for investment properties to owner-occupied ones rise, but the latter is still the 'key driver of overall sales', noted head of consumer secured lending Gregory Chan.

    DBS Bank and Maybank said about a fifth of their Singapore mortgages are for investment properties, while Standard Chartered Bank said the percentage is between 15 and 20%. The rest are owner-occupied ones.

    A Maybank spokesman argued that 'there is no direct relationship between loan rates and the 35% limit'. The pricing of mortgage rates and corporate loan rates depends on a combination of factors, such as the risk profile of the borrower, the purpose of the loan and the type of property mortgaged, she said.

    In his report, Dr Chua also noted that property speculation may have increased, as reflected in the rise in sub-sale deals to about 10.5% of total transactions for the April to May period, compared with about 3% 3 years ago. But this is still much lower than the 1990s peak.

Similar Threads

  1. Metaverse: A bubble that could soon burst?
    By reporter2 in forum Coffeeshop Talk
    Replies: 0
    -: 01-12-21, 09:10
  2. Burst pipe at Loyang Point causes water to flow into shops
    By princess_morbucks in forum Coffeeshop Talk
    Replies: 0
    -: 15-01-14, 19:33
  3. Bubble? What Bubble?
    By phantom_opera in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 15
    -: 05-09-12, 14:17
  4. The biggest bubble is HDB!!!
    By phantom_opera in forum HDB, EC, commercial and industrial property discussion
    Replies: 5
    -: 28-04-12, 21:36
  5. Global property bubble won't burst: analyst
    By mr funny in forum Singapore Private Condominium Property Discussion and News
    Replies: 0
    -: 17-08-06, 21:00

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •