Fortunes of Apac billionaires outstripped global wealth growth last decade: report
Therese Soh - ASIA-Pacific’s (Apac) ultra wealthy had the fastest growing fortunes among billionaires across the globe over the last decade, a UBS report found...
Global billionaires outperformed global equity markets from 2015-2024: UBS
Khairani Afifi Noordin - Global billionaires have outperformed equity markets over the past decade, according to the UBS Billionaires Ambitions Report 2024 which is now in its 10th year. Between 2015 and 2024, global billionaires’ total wealth increased by 121% to US$14 trillion, compared to MSCI AC World Index’s 73% ...
World-beating surge propels Korea Zinc to ‘inexplicable’ levels
Bloomberg - Investors keen on profiting ahead of Korea-listed Korea Zinc’s intensifying proxy battle next month are pushing the zinc smelter’s stock to the top of a global equity index. Korea Zinc’s shares jumped as much as 12% on Thursday to reach a fresh high, extending its year-to-date surge to roughly ...
Remembering Ananda Krishnan — Malaysia’s reclusive billionaire
Nirgunan Tiruchelvam - Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan died in Switzerland last week at the age of 86, of a lung illness. He was the force behind the Usahas Tegas Group (UT), a sprawling conglomerate. UT had interests in telecommunications, media, property, gaming and stud farming. The Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, w ...
Frasers Property alerted of scam accounts impersonating its subsidiaries
Chloe Lim - Frasers Property was notified of the existence of unauthorised Telegram accounts impersonating Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) and/or a “Frasers Commercial Trust”, as...
Praemia REIM said to consider Singapore healthcare REIT IPO
Bloomberg - France’s Praemia REIM is considering listing a healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to a slew of potential deals that could revive the city-state’s anemic market for initial public offerings. The hospital assets include ...
Trump good for US markets, not so much rest of world: Moomoo
Jovi Ho - The narrative that US President-elect Donald Trump will be good for the stock markets may only be partially accurate. Trump’s policies are good for the US stock market, says Isaac Lim, chief market strategist at investment platform Moomoo Singapore. “Whether it’s going to be really good for As ...
Malaysian Royal Commission recommends probe against Mahathir
Bloomberg - A Malaysian Royal Commission of Inquiry has recommended that a police report be lodged against former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for his handling of a sovereignty dispute with Singapore over an island, according to a report made available on the parliament website. A criminal investigation shou ...
BlackRock has US$1.3 bil pay pot to retain new rainmakers
Bloomberg - Larry Fink is shelling out about US$25 billion ($33.59 billion) in the space of a year to turn BlackRock into a top-five player in infrastructure and private credit. Now he’s focused on enticing the firm’s newest rainmakers to stay on board. Across the purchases of private credit firm HPS Invest ...
What do China and Man U have in common?
The Edge Singapore - Donald Trump, in his previous stint as US president, practically reintroduced “trade war” back into the global lexicon. Even months before he officially assumes his new term, Mexico, Canada and, of course, China are already subject to his rhetorical lashings on tariffs, as they are the three cou ...
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon top the list of companies successfully leveraging AI to boost performance: IMD Research
Cherlyn Yeoh - Tech giants Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon have ranked first, second and third on the list of companies that are successfully integrating and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to boost business performance, according to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). The annual A ...
Latest Singapore six-month T-bill cut-off yield slips to 3%
Chong Xin Wei - THE cut-off yield on Singapore’s latest six-month Treasury bill (T-bill) fell to 3 per cent, auction results released by the Monetary Authority...
How Citi lost US$17 million on biggest Aussie block trade in years
CITIGROUP undercut rivals this week to win the biggest block trade in Australia in seven years, only to see the deal unravel...
Amundi interested in buying Allianz Global Investors
Bloomberg - Amundi is interested in acquiring control of Allianz’s asset manager Allianz Global Investors (AGI) as the French company scouts for deals amid industry consolidation, people familiar with the matter said. Europe’s biggest asset manager has been holding on-and-off talks with the German insuran ...
BlackRock’s Boivin says global bonds favoured over US treasuries
Bloomberg - Investors should favour global bonds over longer-dated US Treasuries, with sticky inflation forcing the Federal Reserve to the sidelines next year, according to Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute. “We see inflation not getting out of control, but not cooperating in a way that al ...
Singapore retail sales up 2.2% in October with mixed performance across industries
Elysia Tan - SINGAPORE’S retail sales grew 2.2 per cent on year in October, picking up from the 1.9 per cent growth recorded in the...
MAS extends deadline to cease corporate cheques to end-2026
Tan Nai Lun - THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will extend the deadline to cease the processing of corporate cheques to the end of 2026.
The year ahead: Prepare for the worst
Manu Bhaskaran - The coming year is going to be a rough one. The unexpected but dangerous upsurge in the Syrian civil war and the astonishing political convulsions in South Korea speak of a world that is structurally prone to downside surprises. This is because there are intensifying vulnerabilities in politics, tra ...
Intel stands by forecast after CEO exit, vows to be thriftier
Bloomberg - Intel, fresh off the abrupt departure of CEO Pat Gelsinger, stuck with its current financial forecast during a presentation Wednesday while also saying it would keep a tight rein on capital spending. “We stand by the guidance that we gave at earnings,” CFO and interim Co-CEO Dave Zinsner said ...
Schneider Electric working with Nvidia to design data centre cooling systems
FRENCH electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric is working with Nvidia to develop designs for data centre cooling systems for use in new...
Trump's tariff tango
Daryl Guppy - US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on any country that supports a currency to replace the US dollar marks the latest in a series of increasingly aggressive moves against global trade and China. One can’t help but wonder if Trump has spent some of the last few years r ...
Japan PM Ishiba says no plan to revise joint BOJ statement
TOKYO : Japan's government has no plans to revise a joint statement with the central bank that focused on pulling the economy out of deflation, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Thursday.The need to reverse excessive rises in the yen was shared with the public when former Prime Minister Shi ...
Electric blue runs in Seatrium's veins
Felicia Tan - After the February 2023 merger of SembMarine and Keppel O&M, the enlarged entity, still known as SembMarine, proposed changing its name to Seatrium in April of the same year. At the time, SembMarine said that its new name reflected its aspiration to become a “premier global player providing ...
Seatrium catches a new wave
Felicia Tan - After a merger and review, the offshore group is ready to win more contracts — both in rigs and the emerging renewables business In the cyclical offshore and marine (O&M) industry, staying afloat goes beyond navigating turbulent seas. To weather the ups and downs, a company must ride the win ...
The rapidly evolving Asean consumer
Aditi Bathia and Jasmine Yeo - Asean is a region on the rise, with expanding domestic demand, strong foreign direct investment and a robust tourism industry. Combined regional gross domestic product (GDP) doubled between 2009 and 2022 to reach US$3.6 trillion ($4.8 trillion) — at the heart of that growth is the rapidly evolving ...
FashionValet founders charged after sovereign wealth fund loss
MALAYSIAN prosecutors charged the founders of a local online fashion retailer over the alleged misuse of funds invested in their company by...
Empowering data centres to make the AI race sustainable
Felicia Tan - Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation are making it increasingly difficult for data centres to balance the demands of supporting the digital economy’s growth with the need for sustainability. “AI-driven data centres are poised to become major energy consumers, ...
Bank of Japan’s Nakamura urges caution in raising interest rates
BANK of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura said on Thursday the central bank must move “cautiously” in raising interest rates, as smaller...
Trump loves tariffs but Canada can strike back on oil, ex-trade chief says
Bloomberg - The man who led Canada’s trade negotiating team during Donald Trump’s first term said the US President-elect “likes tariffs even more now” and will be less constrained about about using them in his second. Steve Verheul, who was Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017 to 2021, said Tru ...
OpenAI CEO thinks Musk won’t use political power against rivals
Bloomberg - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed concerns that rival Elon Musk might use his newfound political influence to undercut competitors and benefit his own artificial intelligence efforts. “It would be profoundly un-American to use political power to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesse ...
Keppel partners Amazon Web Services on generative AI, sustainable infrastructure
Chong Xin Wei - KEPPEL has signed a multi-year strategic framework agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to collaborate on data centres, subsea cables and renewable...
Bitcoin hits US$100,000 for first time on optimism over US support
Bloomberg - Bitcoin has risen to US$100,000 for the first time, extending its year-to-date gain to 138%, amid optimism in the market that US president-elect Donald Trump’s administration will provide support to the digital-asset industry. Trump has vowed to appoint crypto-friendly regulators and create a nati ...
Local banks outperform the Nasdaq; is there room for more gains?
Goola Warden - If you own bank stocks, it may be best to hang on to them. In The Edge Singapore’s Year-End Investment Forum, market experts expect the local banks to continue to outperform. Some analysts have turned cautious, but not those at DBS Group Research or Morgan Stanley. Banks are increasingly viewed as ...
Instant view: Bitcoin soars above $100,000
Bitcoin hit a record high above $100,000 on Thursday as the election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president fuels expectations that his administration will usher in a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. The world's largest cryptocurrency was last up 3.4 per cent at $101, ...
