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Salaries expected to recover to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in Southeast Asia in 2022, Aon study reveals

  • Salary increases in 2021 were lower than in 2020; bonus pay-outs dropped approximately 25 percent.
  • Some industries, such as private banking, saw continued increases in salaries while retail and professional services faced challenges.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 15 December 2021 – The COVID-19 pandemic has weighed heavily on talent strategies with muted salary increases across Southeast Asia, according to a study by Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm. The second edition of Aon’s 2021 Salary Increase and Turnover Study was conducted from June 2020 to June 2021, surveying the salary movements and turnover rates of more than 870 companies across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

 

Companies must prepare for potential talent risks in 2022 following a muted 2021

In Singapore, salary increases across industries dropped to 3.3 percent in 2021 from 3.8 percent in 2020. Similar trends were seen in Malaysia and Thailand, with 2021 salary increases of approximately 4.5 percent and 4.4 percent, compared to 4.7 percent and 4.9 percent in 2020, respectively. Bonus pay-outs, which were relatively insulated in 2020–calculated for the previous performance year–also dropped between 20 – 25 percent in 2021 across Southeast Asia.

 

However, as organisations settle into new and agile workforce models, compensation policies are expected to normalise to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. The study showed that salary increases for Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are forecasted to recover to 3.8 percent, 4.9 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, in the coming year.

 

Voluntary turnover in 2021 remained either mostly flat or declined, as reported in Singapore (from 11.3 percent in 2020 to 10.8 percent in 2021) and Malaysia (from 10.6 percent in 2020 to 8.7 percent in 2021), demonstrating there is hesitation in switching employers amid an uncertain business landscape.

 

However, as the Southeast Asian economy is poised to recover, Aon expects turnover to increase following the current downturn.

 

Rahul Chawla, Managing Director, Aon’s Human Capital Solutions, Southeast Asia, said: “Organisations need to prepare for and have the right strategies for global talent trends such as ‘The Great Resignation.’ This will be further complicated by other factors introduced by the pandemic, such as new working models and a higher demand for digital skills. However, these extraordinary times also present opportunities for companies to stay ahead of the curve in the war for talent as they continue to build resilient workforces. We expect to soon see a surge in hiring and turnover activity so rethinking compensation and benefits strategies will be a critical success factor to prepare for the next year.”

 

Retail, hospitality, and professional services continue to face headwinds

The study also revealed how the pandemic impacted individual sectors. In financial services, the consumer banking industry saw minimal salary increases due to prevailing macro-economic conditions and the business performance of banks. However, private banking saw continued salary growth on the back of continued wealth creation in the region and the need for sophisticated financial planning. Similarly, the life sciences and medical devices industries saw salary increases in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand of 3.6 percent, 4.6 percent, and 5.0 percent respectively. In contrast, retail, hospitality, and professional services continue to face headwinds; for example, the Singapore market saw a salary increase of just 3.0 percent in the consulting and professional services industry.

 

To address some of these challenges, data from Aon shows that organisations have invested in different talent groups and skillsets. For example, in response to the growing importance of digital solutions in new working models and the need to address the increased risk to employee health and wellbeing, salaries in IT and human resources in certain economies such as Thailand showed the strongest recovery, with salaries for junior employees increasing by up to 20 percent.


Median Salary Increase in 2020 and 2021

Country/Territory

Salary Increase 2020

Salary Increase 2021

Singapore

3.8%

3.3%

Malaysia

4.7%

4.5%

Thailand

4.9%

4.4%

Indonesia

7.5%

6.5%

Vietnam

8.5%

7.5%

Median Voluntary Turnover in 2020 and 2021



 

“The trends observed for 2021 reflect the phases of react, recover and reshape that most companies have experienced in the last 18 months. With higher vaccination rates across Southeast Asia and the resumption of travel, the expectation in 2022 is for a long-awaited recovery where we will see more movements in the talent market. While continuing to fight the war for talent, organisations can leverage these data and insights to make better, more informed decisions as they build roadmaps to deliver enhanced value for employees in the future,” said Chawla.

 

To view the study, please click here.

About the study

Aon’s Salary Increase and Turnover Study provides clients with actionable insights to ensure their pay cycles are aligned with overall market trends. Conducted twice a year, the study spans more than 130 countries/territories and 4,100 companies globally.

The Salary Increase and Turnover Study covers the following key market practices:

  • Actual overall and merit-based salary increases
  • Budgeted overall and merit-based salary increases
  • Expected hiring and workforce growth trends
  • Key talent identification and rewards differentiation practices
  • Performance management practices
  • Promotion practices
  • Salary structure movement trends
  • Voluntary and involuntary turnover rates

 

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Our colleagues provide our clients in over 120 countries with advice and solutions that give them the clarity and confidence to make better decisions to protect and grow their business.

Follow Aon on Twitter and LinkedIn. Stay up-to-date by visiting the Aon Newsroom and sign up for News Alerts here.

#Aon

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Qwang Launches in Singapore New Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad Experience With A Healthier Twist

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 15 December 2021  Qwang, a brand new quick-serve Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad concept, opens its doors this December, bringing refreshing bowls of authentic Vietnamese casual dining goodness to foodies across Singapore.

 

Drawing inspiration from the classic and popular Vietnamese rice vermicelli dish Bún Thịt Nướng (grill pork rice noodle salad), with updated ingredients, preparation methods and cooking styles to suit today’s healthier dietary preferences, Qwang aspires to bring the unique flavour and taste of this quintessential Vietnamese daily foodfare to a wider consumer audience.

 

With a healthier cooking approach, reduced oil usage and no MSG, Qwang is the perfect choice to get your Vietnamese food fix while staying on the right side of your dietary plans. 

 

Goodness in a bowl


The Qwang rice noodle salad combines and folds in layers of taste, flavours and texture – at the same time savoury, sweet, crunchy, crisp and zesty – into a balanced bowl of hearty and satisfying meal experience.

 

Every Qwang salad bowl starts with the assembly of the base: consisting of springy rice noodles mixed with a generous serving of fresh Romaine lettuce, Japanese cucumbers and succulent cherry tomatoes, followed by a dash of vietnamese pickled daikon and carrots.

 

For proteins, choose from our signature roast ribeye, classic roast-grilled pork cutlet or belly, as well as specially marinated chicken. There is also the option of spice-rubbed, roasted beancurd cubes for those who are vegetarian inclined.

 

The ensemble is topped off with fresh herbs – mint and basil leaves – and a sprinkling of chopped roasted peanuts.

 

Finally, to complete the whole experience, drizzle your Qwang salad bowl with our own specially concocted version of the traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce, nước chấm.

 

Give everything a good toss to mix it all in, and you’re now ready to enjoy!

Sharing the love for Vietnamese food


Qwang culminates a journey of love for the brand’s co-founder and spokesperson Chew that began almost a decade ago.

 

“Most people immediately think of Phở or Bánh mì when they think of Vietnamese food, but for me, it’s the rice noodle salad dish, Bún Thịt Nướng, that speaks to me as the quintessential Vietnamese dish, a chaotic yet logical balance of layered tastes and flavours that in a way perfectly represents the varied and kaleidoscopic nature of Vietnamese culture”, explained Chew.

 

“We are extremely passionate about Vietnamese food and wish to share our love for it with more people throughout Singapore, and beyond. And that is what inspired us to start Qwang”, Chew elaborated.

 

Beyond the current offering, Qwang has plans to introduce other popular Vietnamese food items in the future, as part of its mission to be recognised as a brand synonymous with authentic and quality Vietnamese food in Singapore

Launch promotion


To celebrate its launch, Qwang is offering Chilled Vietnamese Coffee free with every Qwang salad bowl purchase, from now till 31 December 2021, or whilst stock lasts.

 

Simply order online at www.qwang.sg for islandwide delivery or self-pickup at Qwang’s outlet, located at: 9 Yio Chu Kang Road, Space @ Kovan #01-51, Singapore 545523.

 

Walk-in for takeaway orders is available as well.

 

Operating hours are 11am to 9pm daily.

 

Qwang is now open for business. Get your healthy and refreshing bowl of Vietnamese rice noodle salad today.

About Qwang

Qwang is a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) concept that offers a fresh take on the classic Vietnamese rice noodle salad dish, Bún Thịt Nướng, that retains the traditional and unique flavours of Vietnamese soul food while adding new dimensions to suit the fast casual and healthier diet preferences of today’s consumers.

With a hearty mix of daily fresh greens, tasty proteins and refreshing herbs, drizzled with its unique savoury and tangy dressing sauce, a Qwang bowl is just what one needs to enjoy a satisfying meal that feeds the senses, body and soul all at the same time.

For more information on Qwang, visit www.qwang.sg.

#Qwang

Allianz: Volatile markets, US lawsuits, ESG issues and SPACs create new risks for managers

  • AGCS report identifies trends for risk managers, brokers and insurers in the Directors and Officers (D&O) space.
  • Pandemic-related insolvency risks have not yet been fully averted, while risk of asset bubbles and inflation are a rising concern.
  • Shareholder derivative suits in the US against foreign companies are becoming more frequent.
  • SPACs are on the rise globally – and come with a number of D&O risks. In Asia the market is gaining momentum with a significant uptick in companies in China, Hong Kong and Singapore as a new route to accessing capital markets
  • AGCS market outlook: “D&O insurance market is showing signs of stabilizing in terms of capacity. However, the potential for further loss trend inflation remains and requires a disciplined underwriting approach.”

JOHANNESBURG/LONDON/MUNICH/NEW YORK/PARIS/SAO PAULO/SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 15 December 2021  Board members and company executives can be held liable for an increasing range of scenarios. Today’s market volatility, with the increased threat of asset bubbles and inflation, the prospect of a growing number of insolvencies due to the pandemic environment, together with rising scrutiny around the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of companies and the urgency for robust cyber resilience are key risks for Directors and Officers (D&Os) to watch in 2022.

Risk managers and their D&O insurers should also closely monitor potential exposures to US derivative actions and other forms of litigation, while also not underestimating the challenges around increasingly popular SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies), according to the latest edition of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS)’ annual D&O report.

 

“The actions and culture of organizations and their directors and officers are coming under heightened scrutiny from a wide range of stakeholders, with litigation risk a primary concern,” says Shanil Williams, Global Head of Financial Lines at AGCS.

 

“This comes against the backdrop of a stabilizing D&O marketplace, although capacity is still tight in some segments and many companies would like to buy more limits than the industry can offer. The market remediation has advanced, including our own portfolio at AGCS, and this will gradually ease the pressure that some of our clients are facing. We are adopting a cautious and disciplined underwriting approach and need to remain wary about the current volatile business environment and closely monitor loss trend patterns. However, the D&O insurance space is slowly, but surely, offering opportunities for profitable growth again in selected pockets – and we are eager to pursue these.”

Uncertain insolvency issues continue to be key topic in the D&O space

The withdrawal of support measures for companies established during the pandemic sets the stage for a gradual normalization of business insolvencies in 2022. The Euler Hermes Global Insolvency Index is likely to post a +15% y/y rebound in 2022, after two consecutive years of decline (-6% forecast in 2021 and -12% in 2020). While the wave of insolvencies has so far been milder than anticipated, mixed trends are expected across the world. In less developed markets, such as Africa or Latin America, the number of insolvencies is expected to increase faster compared to more developed economies, such as France, Germany and the US, where the impact of the governmental support is expected to last for longer. Traditionally, insolvency is a major cause of D&O claims as insolvency practitioners look to recoup losses from directors. There are many ways that stakeholders could go after directors following insolvency, such as alleging that boards failed to prepare adequately for a pandemic or for prolonged periods of reduced income.

 

Market volatility, climate change and digitalization key issues

The financial services industry, but also companies from other sectors, continues to face multiple risk management challenges in the current economic climate. Markets are likely to become more volatile with the increased risk of asset bubbles and inflation rising in different parts of the world. At the same time, more banks and insurers are expected to assign individual responsibility for overseeing financial risks arising from climate change, while investors are paying closer attention to the adequate and timely disclosure of the risk that it poses for the company or financial instrument they invest in. The tightening regulatory environment, the prospect of climate change litigation or ‘greenwashing’ allegations could all potentially impact D&Os. Cases have focused on the nature of investments, although there is a rise in litigation to drive behavioral shifts and force disclosure debate.

 

Meanwhile, digitalization has further accelerated following Covid-19, creating enhanced cyber and IT security exposures for companies. This requires firms’ senior management to maintain an active role in steering the ICT (information and communication technologies) risk management framework. “IT outages and service disruptions or cyber-attacks could bring significant business interruption costs and increased operating expenses from a variety of causes including customer redress, consultancy costs, loss of income and regulatory fines. Last, but not least, brand reputation can also suffer. All this can ultimately impact a company’s stock price with management being held responsible for the level of preparedness,” says Jenny Wilhelm, Regional Head of Financial Lines Asia.

 

Heightened litigation risk in the US

Litigation risk continues to be a top D&O concern, in particular around shareholder derivative actions which are increasingly being brought on behalf of foreign companies in US courts. “A number of new lawsuit filings, the recent openness of certain courts to extending long-arm jurisdiction, and a possibly record-breaking settlement announced in October 2021, point to heightened US litigation risk for directors and officers of non-US domiciled companies,” David Ackerman, Global Claims Key Case Management at AGCS emphasizes.

 

Since early 2020, a group of plaintiffs’ firms has brought more than 10 derivative lawsuits in New York state courts on behalf of shareholders of non-US companies seeking to hold directors and officers legally and financially accountable for various breaches of duty to their corporations. The financial hurdles to bring suit in the US are significantly lower than in many other countries, while US courts and juries are considered more plaintiff-friendly than many others around the world. The consequences to directors and officers forced to defend themselves in derivative litigation before US courts can be severe. In what may turn out to be a record-setting settlement for a US derivative lawsuit, in October of this year defendants agreed to pay a minimum of US$300mn to settle litigation brought in a New York state court by shareholders of Renren, a social media corporation based in China, and incorporated in the Cayman Islands, after allegations of corporate misconduct.

 

Scrutiny over SPACs
Another emerging risk in the global D&O insurance space comes from the growth of so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), also known as ‘blank check companies’. These represent a faster track to public markets. Advantages fueling the growth of SPACs over traditional Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) include smoother procedures, less regulatory and process burdens, easier capital sourcing and shorter timelines to complete a merger with target companies. During the first half of 2021, the number of SPAC mergers in the US, both announced and completed, more than doubled the full year total of 2020 with 359 SPAC filings, garnering a combined US$95bn raised. The growth of SPACs in Europe may not match the scale of the US boom, but there is still a growing expectation that it will increase despite a less favorable company law environment compared to the US. In Asia the market is slowly gaining momentum with a significant uptick in companies in China, Hong Kong and Singapore as a new route to accessing capital markets.

 

So far the SPAC boom has been largely concentrated in high-growth industries such as technology, financial services and healthcare. Earlier this month, Grab – the car-hailing service in South East Asia, made its stock market debut on New York’s Nasdaq trading platform.

 

Regulatory scrutiny and enforcement over the SPAC sector have also increased after two years of booming activity. The scrutiny and lawsuits have piled more risk on the market for D&O insurance. One issue in Hong Kong is securing liability insurance for SPAC directors and officers against incorrect statements and negligence. The cost of such coverage has materially steepened for many Chinese firms listed in the U.S. because of increased scrutiny and activism in recent years.

 

SPACs carry a set of specific ‘insurance-relevant’ risks, and losses are already reported to be flowing through to the D&O market as both the SPAC and the private target company typically obtain D&O coverage. “Exposures could potentially stem from mismanagement, fraud or intentional and material misrepresentation, inaccurate or inadequate financial information or violations of rules or disclosure duties,” says David Van den Berghe, Global Head of Financial Institutions at AGCS.

 

In addition, a failure to finalize the transaction within the two-year period, insider trading during the time a SPAC goes public, a wrong selection of a target to acquire or the lack of adequate due diligence in the target company could also come into play. Post-merger the risk of the go-forward company to perform as expected or failure to comply with the new duties of being a publicly-listed company also needs to be considered.

About Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) SE is a leading global corporate insurance carrier and a key business unit of Allianz Group. We provide risk consultancy, Property-Casualty insurance solutions and alternative risk transfer for a wide spectrum of commercial, corporate and specialty risks across 10 dedicated lines of business.

Our customers are as diverse as business can be, ranging from Fortune Global 500 companies to small businesses, and private individuals. Among them are not only the world’s largest consumer brands, tech companies and the global aviation and shipping industry, but also wineries, satellite operators or Hollywood film productions. They all look to AGCS for smart answers to their largest and most complex risks in a dynamic, multinational business environment and trust us to deliver an outstanding claims experience.

Worldwide, AGCS operates with its own teams in 31 countries and through the Allianz Group network and partners in over 200 countries and territories, employing over 4,450 people. As one of the largest Property-Casualty units of Allianz Group, we are backed by strong and stable financial ratings. In 2019, AGCS generated a total of €9.1 billion gross premium globally.

www.agcs.allianz.com

LinkedIn

Twitter: @AGCS_Insurance

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. In addition to statements which are forward-looking by reason of context, the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential”, or “continue” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to, without limitation, (i) general economic conditions, including in particular economic conditions in the Allianz Group’s core business and core markets, (ii) performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, and including market volatility, liquidity and credit events (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including from natural catastrophes and including the development of loss expenses, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) the extent of credit defaults, (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates including the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rate, (ix) changing levels of competition, (x) changes in laws and regulations, including monetary convergence and the European Monetary Union, (xi) changes in the policies of central banks and/or foreign governments, (xii) the impact of acquisitions, including related integration issues, (xiii) reorganization measures, and (xiv) general competitive factors, in each case on a local, regional, national and/or global basis. Many of these factors may be more likely to occur, or more pronounced, as a result of terrorist activities and their consequences.

The matters discussed herein may also be affected by risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Allianz SE’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Foreign National Arrested for Public Urination in Vientiane Capital

Man charged with public urination.
A foreign national has been charged with public urination.


A foreign national has been detained by police after a video depicting him urinating on his vehicle while stopped at traffic lights went viral on social media.

Bright Food Global Selects Infor to Deliver Essential Ingredients for Success in Group-wide Cloud Transformation Program

Australia’s major provider of leading retail and premium food brands is one of the first in ANZ to tap into Infor’s Coleman Artificial Intelligence technology

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Media OutReach – 15 December 2021 – Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced that Bright Food Global, a market-leading distribution network spanning the Asia Pacific region, specializing in consumer packaged goods, high-end fine foods and Australia’s largest exporter of citrus fruit, has selected Infor Food & Beverage (F&B) to power its move to a multi-tenant cloud setting for ERP and core business systems — a decision that will underpin the organisation’s next phase of growth.



Jarrod Kinchington, Infor ANZ managing director

 

Bright Food Global, a diversified group with origins dating back more than 100 years, represents a portfolio of iconic businesses and brands including heritage dried fruit business Sunbeam Foods, Manassen Foods, Hutchinson’s New Zealand, Calendar Cheese Company, Simon Johnson, Mildura Fruit Juice Australia, etc., and is also the largest distributor of specialty cheese and caviar in Australia.

 

Learn more about Infor Food & Beverage: https://www.infor.com/en-au/products/cloudsuite-food-and-beverage

 

The enterprise-wide transformation program will see Infor F&B deployed in financial management, inventory management, procurement, warehouse management, sales order management, cost accounting, manufacturing, quality management, and other areas.

 

Infor F&B will provide Bright Food with greater flexibility, mobility, automation and visibility across the business in warehousing, retail, finance and manufacturing pillars, and positively impact a variety of users, from production line workers to administration staff. Infor F&B will replace Bright Food’s 14-year, on-premises Infor ERP solution, and will future-proof the organisation’s internal core business systems while ensuring compatibility with external applications, platforms and emerging technologies.

The implementation will be rolled out in three phases across Australia and New Zealand, in partnership with Infor gold channel partner and ERP specialist ComActivity. Bright Food will also have the choice to use Infor Coleman AI, a digital assistant that will redefine access to systems, information and workflows with text and voice interactions in a variety of business units and tasks such as maintenance requests, inventory assessments, and customer inquiries. Such AI capabilities can aid Bright Food’s end-users in how they operate with the system.

 

“Bright Food Global has been at the forefront of food innovation for decades, and the move to the cloud with Infor will provide the group with greater flexibility, enhanced mobility, and substantially improve visibility for the organisation – both internally and externally,” said Peter Gunning, Bright Food Global chief financial officer and executive director. “We’ve had Infor in our corner for many years and trust them to keep delivering for the business in our next phase of growth. Having such high-quality ERP cloud technology will put our systems, processes and operations in a better position to deliver significant efficiency gains. Infor’s value proposition was too compelling to refuse.”

 

According to Sarah Kibble, Bright Food Global head of IT, Infor’s F&B offering will enable the organisation to provide better employee and customer experiences, improve its bottom line and play a pivotal role in the organisation’s efficiency and growth plans.

 

“Infor has been an important strategic partner and, with Infor F&B, we will be able to deliver more efficiencies and scale the business with improved, intuitive functionality. The multi-tenant SaaS model with continual investment by Infor provides a pathway to improvements without the need for major system upgrades in the future, saving time, costs and resources whilst ensuring business process advancement.

 

“When we embarked on our move to the cloud, we assessed the market, opting to continue partnering with Infor due to its strong cloud technology investment and emerging leadership in this area. Its deep experience in the F&B vertical provides an ongoing and important advantage, as is the benefits of the stability and security of Infor F&B, which is a highly-resilient cloud platform,” Kibble said.

 

Infor ANZ managing director Jarrod Kinchington said: “Infor is thrilled to be able to continue supporting Bright Food Global as it embarks on a company-wide program to move to the cloud. We’re pleased that Bright Food Global has maintained its trust in Infor to deliver on this critical transformation project and look forward to helping the organisation drive its innovation agenda into the future.”

Media contact:

Phyllis Tan

Infor Asia Pacific

phyllis.tan@infor.com
+65 9799 9133

About Bright Food Global

Bright Food Global is a diversified food group that operates across the Asia Pacific region. With origins dating back more than 100 years, our brands and business continue to grow as we respond to the emerging trends in consumer tastes and innovation. With a team of over 1,500 employees, and a product portfolio of 500+ leading brands, we have established regional representation in key markets and are recognised as industry leaders. We travel the globe in search of exceptional and exquisite food products, so we can deliver the finest products from around the world.

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialised by industry. Providing mission-critical enterprise applications to 67,000 customers in more than 175 countries, Infor software is designed to deliver more value and less risk, with more sustainable operational advantages. We empower our 17,000 employees to leverage their deep industry expertise and use data-driven insights to create, learn and adapt quickly to solve emerging business and industry challenges. Infor is committed to providing our customers with modern tools to transform their business and accelerate their own path to innovation. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.

Copyright ©2021 Infor. All rights reserved. The word and design marks set forth herein are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Infor and/or related affiliates and subsidiaries. All other trademarks listed herein are the property of their respective owners. www.infor.com

#Infor

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Group Arrested for Theft of Railway Components in Luang Prabang

Group arrested for stealing fencing along the Laos-China Railway
Fencing stolen from the Laos-China Railway.

Three men and a woman have been detained by police in Luang Prabang Province after being found stealing railway components along the Laos-China Railway.

Symphony wraps up 2021 with two acquisitions, new partnerships and an expanded global leadership team

NEW YORK, US and LONDON, UK – News Direct – 14 December 2021 – Symphony, the leading markets’ infrastructure and technology platform, is now serving over 1000 financial institutions, capping off a year that was marked by significant growth for the company. Symphony spent 2021 executing on partnerships, acquisitions, and continuing to build its global leadership team. Continual technological advancements throughout the year have proved Symphony’s commitment to solving markets challenges, providing secure communications and networked infrastructure while consolidating itself as the largest secure community of financial firms and professionals in the world.

On June 24, Symphony announced it had acquired Cloud9 Technologies, an innovative trader voice and electronic communication business, and on August 2, the company announced the acquisition of StreetLinx, the counterparty mapping platform, to offer the most complete and secure verified identity directory in financial services.

In the last year, Symphony also chose Google Cloud as its primary cloud provider as part of a strategic multi-year deal, while also establishing partnerships with AccessFintech, Saphyre, Unqork and Quant Insight. Symphony had previously announced a partnership with low-code, no-code Genesis to provide the financial markets community with interoperable technology and applications, built and deployed both securely and at speed.

The company has successfully proceeded with the rollout of Symphony 2.0, the second generation of its core collaboration platform, built in close partnership with financial firms to address their workflow needs, from front to middle, to back office and from the buy-side to the sell-side. Additionally, HSBC Global Private Banking engaged Symphony to develop and deploy HSBC GPB Chat, a client engagement platform that enables the private bank’s clients to interact with their relationship management team via one-to-one chat, group chat, document sharing and video/audio conferencing on WhatsApp or WeChat, in a secure and compliant way.

Global leadership team

2021 also saw the appointment of Brad Levy as CEO. “We continue to be committed to delivering networked market infrastructure,” Levy said. “We are thrilled to enter 2022 with an expanded team and are energized by the momentum from this year’s new partnerships and acquisitions.” Levy had joined Symphony in July 2020 as president and chief commercial officer.

In addition to Levy, Corinna Mitchell was named general counsel, Benjamin Chrnelich, the company’s chief financial officer, assumed the additional role of president, while Dietmar Fauser became chief information officer. Also, Michael Lynch joined as Symphony’s new chief product officer, Gary Godshaw – former CEO of Streetlinx – was named the company’s chief revenue officer, and Jim Miller – Cloud9’s former COO – was named chief customer experience officer.

Additionally, industry veteran Marie Patton joined Symphony as managing director for APAC.

The team actively engaged with employees, customers and industry partners in London, Paris, Sophia Antipolis, New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami and Sunnyvale when travel resumed post COVID-19 restrictions.

Innovate conference

On November 2, the firm hosted its flagship conference Innovate, where it showcased a live demonstration of how it is integrating the technology of Symphony, Cloud9 and StreetLinx into one powerful inter-firm workflow, and introduced new features such as the Secure Event Service and Groups. The audience heard from senior leaders from BlackRock, BNY Mellon, Citi, JP Morgan Asset Management, Zoom and Google Cloud on lively and relevant discussion panels.

About Symphony

Symphony is the most secure and compliant markets’ infrastructure and technology platform, where solutions are built or integrated to standardize, automate and innovate financial services workflows. It is a vibrant community of over half a million financial professionals with a trusted directory and serves over 1000 institutions. Symphony is powering over 2,000 community-built applications and bots. For more information, visit www.symphony.com.

#Symphony

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Hong Kong Residential and Investment Markets Scaled New Heights in 2021, With Pandemic Contained and Economy Recovering Property Market Set to Further Improve in 2022 with Border Reopening

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 14 December 2021 – Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield announced the Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area (GBA) Property Market 2021 Review and 2022 Outlook today. With the pandemic being gradually contained and a steady economic recovery in 2021, Hong Kong’s property market shows signs of recovery:

–       The residential market has been active as the number of sale and purchase agreements (S&P) reached a peak since 2012. Private home prices show a significant rise with some housing estates breaking record highs.

–       The number of major investment transactions increased by more than double on the previous year, with industrial buildings and development sites among the most active sectors.

–       The office leasing market has stabilized, with total absorption in 2H21 standing at 513,000 sf NFA and rental declines slowing.

–       The retail leasing market has begun to pick up, as vacancy in prime retail districts begins to drop and rents in some districts start to rise.

–       In the GBA, Shenzhen and Guangzhou continue to dominate major investment deals and residential transactions, with other GBA cities catching up. Foreign investors’ presence has also grown, up to a 49% share in 2021.

Data source: Cushman & Wakefield Research

Chart 1: Number of Residential Sale & Purchase Agreements

Chart 2: Major investment transaction volume by HK$ Bn (2012-2021)

Chart 3: Rental change in Grade A offices by district in Hong Kong

Chart 4: Retail rents in prime districts in Hong Kong

Chart 5: Commercial property and investment deals in GBA

Hong Kong residential market: total S&Ps in 2021 reached a 9-year peak; overall home prices rose by 6.5%, with an increment of around 5-10% expected for 2022

The residential market was active in 2021, with more than 6,000 monthly S&Ps for six consecutive months for the period from February to July, 2021. Despite a decline in S&P cases since August 2021, the average number stood firmly at around 5,000 transactions a month. Total annual transactions are expected to reach 74,600 units, a new high since 2012. The secondary market has been particularly active, with more than 57,000 transactions this year, another new high since 2012.

 

Prevailing low interest rates and strong demand from end-users have gradually pushed overall home prices up since the beginning of 2021, peaking in August and September this year, after which prices fell slightly. Overall home prices are estimated to rise by around 6.5% by the end of 2021. Cushman & Wakefield’s home price tracker showed that prices at mass housing estates, such as City One Shatin, surpassed the prior peak of June 2019 in September this year, with a record high of HK$19,800 psf, and are now expected to slightly decline to HK$19,200 psf by the end of 2021. Prices at mid-market housing estates, such as Taikoo Shing, and luxury homes, such as Residence Bel-Air, are also approaching historical highs. Taikoo Shing is within 9.3% of its prior peak of June 2019, while Residence Bel-Air is now just 4.2% short of the 2019 peak.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Director and Head of Research, Hong Kong, Keith Chan, commented: “The residential market has been active in 2021, with transaction volumes reaching a 9-year high. As property prices have gradually approached their historical highs, transaction and price growth slightly slowed in 2H21. We expect that the residential market will continue to prosper in 2022. There will likely be around 18,500 private units available in the market, with no surprise in supply anticipated. The high base number of 2021, combined with a shrinking stock of small-value units, will likely diminish the 2022 transaction volume by around 10% y-o-y. However, an improved economic environment will likely drive a further rise in home prices. We anticipate home prices to climb by around 5% to 10% next year. Luxury homes in urban areas will likely benefit more.”

 

Major investment transactions: deal count and total transactions both reach new peaks since 2019

Major investment transactions in 2021 (each with a consideration of over HK$100 million) were mainly driven by local investors and foreign funds. A total of 180 transactions were anticipated in 2021, more than double that of last year. The total annual transaction volume for 2021 is now estimated to reach HK$80 billion, a jump of 67% y-o-y. Industrial properties and development sites were among the most well-sought after assets, each taking a share of approximately 30% of the total volume. The popularity of industrial properties amongst institutional investors is due both to their relatively small consideration and their flexibility to convert to alternative uses, such as self-storage facilities or data centers. Due to the continued impact of social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years, demand for office and retail space shrank, weakening investment demand. The office sector’s share of total transactions dropped significantly to 15% in 2021, compared to 62% in 2020.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director and Head of Capital Markets, Hong Kong, Tom Ko, pointed out: “We anticipate that the total major transaction volume in 2022 will surpass 2021, reaching a total of 200 deals and HK$100 billion. Demand for industrial buildings in 2021 was at a historic high, and we expect this to continue in 2022. Investors worldwide have recently been drawn to emerging multi-family conversions, such as serviced apartments and hotel properties. The aforementioned asset classes will likely benefit from the revival of tourism activities when the border gradually reopens. The proposed lowered threshold for compulsory sales will likely trigger more development site transactions in 2022. To sum up, we expect industrial buildings, residential development sites, and multi-family conversions to become the three key pillars of the investment market in 2022.”

 

Grade A office market: positive absorption in two consecutive quarters, rental decline softened

The performance of the Grade A office market has recovered from its sluggish state in 1H21 for two consecutive quarters. Absorption for 4Q21 stands at 185,500 sf NFA, despite a total net absorption of negative 578,700 sf NFA recorded in 2021. This is also a major improvement from the negative 2.3 million sf NFA recorded in 2020. The banking and finance sector, and insurance industry, dominated new leasing transactions, with a total share of 42%. Overall rents on average have fallen by 4.7% in 2021, at a much slower pace than the negative 19.3% seen in last year. The improved economic environment and positive absorption performance in 2H21 have brought availability down by 80 bps to 13.6% in 4Q21, compared to 14.4% in 2Q21.

 

Surrender stock has been slashed from the peak of 724,000 sf NFA in 1Q21 to 367,000 sf NFA in 4Q21, a reduction of 49.3% from its peak.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director, Head of Office Services, Hong Kong, Keith Hemshall, mentioned: “With the completion in 2022 of over 2 million sf of new grade A office space in Two Taikoo Place in Hong Kong East, 98 How Ming Street in Kowloon East, and Airside atop Kai Tak MTR Station, we expect overall availability to increase to 16% to 17% by the end of the year and accordingly, for average rents to drop by 1% to 3%. That said, we expect that anticipated border re-opening will drive an improvement in the economy and the demand for office space will increase with an estimated net take up of 300,000 – 500,000 NFA for 2022. We expect Banking & Finance, Insurance and Business Centre / Co-working to continue to be active.”

 

Retail market: vacancy dropped across the board; rental levels have bottomed out

Retail sales growth in the jewellery & watches and fashion & accessories sectors (Jan-Oct 2021) has remained the strongest in 2021, with a y-o-y increment of 29.2% and 22.9%, respectively. Total sales in the retail industry in 2021 rose to HK$288.9 billion, a y-o-y increase of 8.5%. Retail rents in core districts have bottomed out beginning from 2H21. Increased local consumption has driven recovery of F&B rents in the range of 2.2% to 2.8% y-o-y from their bottom. The y-o-y vacancy rates in prime districts have fallen, especially in Causeway Bay and Tsimshatsui, to 7.9% (negative 520 basis points) and 13.1% (negative 480 basis points) respectively, with many new short-term leases evident.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director, Head of Retail Services, Hong Kong, Kevin Lam, mentioned: “With Hong Kong bringing the pandemic under control, the domestic economy gradually recovering, and the employment rate picking up, we anticipate an improvement in the consumer market in 2022. We believe retail rents have bottomed out and vacancy will decline further. Overall high-street rents will likely recover further in 1H22 at a range of between 2% and 5%, with Central district expecting to reach to as much as 5% to 8%. The reopening of the border will help bring tourists back, boosting major brands for their expansion plans next year. Central is expected to lead the recovery, followed by Tsimshatsui and Causeway Bay. However, a net population outflow is expected at the initial stage of the border reopening, bringing short-term pressure on retail sales, and particularly impacting F&B businesses during weekends. Accordingly, the return of tourists and their related consumption activities will drive recovery in the longer-term. The wellness and athleisure trends we saw driven by the pandemic are expected to continue in 2022.”

 

GBA: Shenzhen and Guangzhou still dominate, but other GBA cities will catch up in 2022

Most of the commercial property investment deals realised in the GBA in 2021 were still centred on Shenzhen and Guangzhou, together taking 98% of total transactions. The annual transaction volume is expected to reach RMB60 billion, a rise of 9% y-o-y, and also the second highest by total volume in the last five years (2017–2021). This demonstrates a highly active market, despite a smaller average deal size than before. Most transactions were low in value.

 

In terms of property types, non-traditional asset classes such as industrial / logistics and data centers continue to remain attractive. However, data center assets are limited by the available supply, and accounted for about 1% of total transactions. Meanwhile, neighbourhood malls are expected to be emerging investment targets. These three areas are expected to become the mainstream investment classes into the future.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director, Capital Markets, Greater China, Queeny So, commented: “We expect the total GBA investment volume in 2022 will be about the same as 2021, with its investment market continuing to mature. Investment opportunities are gradually expanding to other cities beyond Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with further investment activities expected. More foreign investors are now exploring investment into the region, with 49% of the total investment volume in 2021 coming from foreign capital, compared to 17% in 2020.”

 

In the GBA’s residential sector, the total number of transacted units in the first 10 months of 2021 fell by approximately 5.7% compared to 2020 on a like-for-like basis, with Huizhou and Dongguan dropping the most, down 32.8% and 25.5%, respectively.

 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Vice President, Greater China, Head of Consulting, Greater China, Alva To, concluded: “Homes in Shenzhen and Guangzhou remain the most expensive amongst the mainland GBA cities, although Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan are catching up with double-digit growth increases. Meanwhile, the residential market is likely to remain stable, although concerns over future government policies remain.”

 

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Photo 1

Photo 1 Caption:Spokespersons of Cushman & Wakefield announced the Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area (GBA) property market 2021 review and 2022 outlook today.

 

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 50,000 employees in over 400 offices and 60 countries. Across Greater China, 22 offices are servicing the local market. The company won four of the top awards in the Euromoney Survey 2017, 2018 and 2020 in the categories of Overall, Agency Letting/Sales, Valuation and Research in China. In 2020, the firm had revenue of $7.8 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.hk or follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cushman-&-wakefield-greater-china).

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