SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income, Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Geoff Howie

SGX Market Strategist, Equity & Fixed Income

Asia’s leading multi-asset exchange

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

Singapore Exchange is Asia’s leading and trusted market infrastructure, facilitating the exchange of capital and ideas to create value for people, businesses and economies. As a multi-asset exchange operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards, SGX is a vertically integrated business that provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services.

With about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore as well as established linkages across the region and in Europe, SGX is Asia’s most international and connected exchange. Offering a full suite of derivatives products across Asian equity indices, commodities and currencies, SGX is the world’s most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN.

As Asia’s pioneering central counterparty, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities, and was one of the first globally to adopt the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure.

Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX has over 800 employees including offices in Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Mumbai, San Francisco, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Equity Bottom-Up

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 <div class='content-caption'>SREIT asset</div>
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<html><body>Singapore's Central Business District (CBD) saw Grade A office rents record the fastest quarterly growth since rents turned around in Q2 2021, according to JLL Singapore in a recent report. 
Grade A office rents in the CBD rose 2.3 per cent to S$10.46 per square foot (psf) per month (pm) in the latest quarter, up from Q4 2021's S$10.23. Rental rates have recovered by 6.9 per cent from its recent lows in Q1 2021. 
Office Reits may also be poised to benefit from a growth in demand for office space as up to 75 per cent of office workers are allowed to return to their workplaces, even as hybrid working continues. 
Listed on SGX are 5 S-Reits with Singapore office properties in their portfolios. They are, Keppel Reit which is a pure-play office S-Reit, and diversified S-Reits CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), Suntec Reit, Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT), and OUE Commercial Reit (OUE C-Reit). Keppel Reit in FY21 had a tenant retention rate of 62 per cent and noted that a majority of new and expansion leases were in Singapore. 
Its weighted average signing rent for Singapore office leases was approximately S$10.56 psf pm. 
Building valuations for Marina Bay Financial Centre Towers 1 &amp; 2, One Raffles Quay and Keppel Bay Tower increased due to higher rental rates. 
OUE C-Reit which has a portfolio of 3 office properties in Singapore's CBD noted in its FY21 results that average passing rents of Singapore office properties at Dec 2021 were higher year on year, with OUE Bayfront hitting a high of S$12.49 psf due to the successful renewal of an anchor tenant. The Reit expects positive leasing momentum to continue in 2022, supported by the technology sector amid a limited supply pipeline. 
CICT recently announced its proposed acquisition of 70 per cent interest in 79 Robinson Road which has a building occupancy rate of 92.9 per cent. The acquisition is expected to offer pro forma annualised net property income yield of 4 per cent, distribution per unit accretion of 2.9 per cent, and is expected to complete in Q2 2022. 
Across the broader S-Reits sector, S-Reits demonstrated resiliency amid the backdrop of rising inflation and a rate hike cycle with the iEdge S-Reit Index posting 1.3 per cent total returns in Q1 2022, outperforming the average decline of 4.9 per cent across global Reit hubs. 
Despite rising interest rates, S-Reits have an average distribution yield of 6.3 per cent, around 400 bps spread over Singapore's 10-year government bond yields. The sector has an average gearing ratio of about 37 per cent (current regulatory ceiling is 50 per cent) and has an average 75 per cent of their borrowings pegged at fixed rates (entered directly in fixed rates or hedged through floating-to-fixed interest rate swaps). 
The top 5 performing S-Reits and property trusts in Q1 2022 averaged 14.1 per cent total returns, outperforming STI's 9.6 per cent, and are mainly from the hospitality and office sub-segments. They are: Suntec Reit (+17.6 per cent), Frasers Hospitality Trust (+15.1 per cent), Far East Hospitality Trust (+13.1 per cent), CDL Hospitality Trusts (+13.0 per cent), and Ascott Residence Trust (+11.5 per cent). 
Drivers that potentially drove the sub-segments were the continued reopening theme and relaxation of Covid measures across Singapore and the region, as well as the positive momentum in office rental rates.  REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times,<a href="https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapore-office-s-reits-poised-to-benefit-from-positive-rental-momentum-0"> read </a>the original version.</body></html>


      
    
    SREIT asset

Singapore's Central Business District (CBD) saw Grade A office rents record the fastest quarterly growth since rents turned around in Q2 2021, according to JLL Singapore in a recent report.  
Grade A office rents in the CBD rose 2.3 per cent to S$10.46 per square foot (psf) per month (pm) in the latest quarter, up from Q4 2021's S$10.23. Rental rates have recovered by 6.9 per cent from its recent lows in Q1 2021.  
Office Reits may also be poised to benefit from a growth in demand for office space as up to 75 per cent of office workers are allowed to return to their workplaces, even as hybrid working continues.  
Listed on SGX are 5 S-Reits with Singapore office properties in their portfolios. They are, Keppel Reit which is a pure-play office S-Reit, and diversified S-Reits CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT), Suntec Reit, Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT), and OUE Commercial Reit (OUE C-Reit). Keppel Reit in FY21 had a tenant retention rate of 62 per cent and noted that a majority of new and expansion leases were in Singapore.  
Its weighted average signing rent for Singapore office leases was approximately S$10.56 psf pm.  
Building valuations for Marina Bay Financial Centre Towers 1 &amp; 2, One Raffles Quay and Keppel Bay Tower increased due to higher rental rates.  
OUE C-Reit which has a portfolio of 3 office properties in Singapore's CBD noted in its FY21 results that average passing rents of Singapore office properties at Dec 2021 were higher year on year, with OUE Bayfront hitting a high of S$12.49 psf due to the successful renewal of an anchor tenant. The Reit expects positive leasing momentum to continue in 2022, supported by the technology sector amid a limited supply pipeline.  
CICT recently announced its proposed acquisition of 70 per cent interest in 79 Robinson Road which has a building occupancy rate of 92.9 per cent. The acquisition is expected to offer pro forma annualised net property income yield of 4 per cent, distribution per unit accretion of 2.9 per cent, and is expected to complete in Q2 2022.  
Across the broader S-Reits sector, S-Reits demonstrated resiliency amid the backdrop of rising inflation and a rate hike cycle with the iEdge S-Reit Index posting 1.3 per cent total returns in Q1 2022, outperforming the average decline of 4.9 per cent across global Reit hubs.  
Despite rising interest rates, S-Reits have an average distribution yield of 6.3 per cent, around 400 bps spread over Singapore's 10-year government bond yields. The sector has an average gearing ratio of about 37 per cent (current regulatory ceiling is 50 per cent) and has an average 75 per cent of their borrowings pegged at fixed rates (entered directly in fixed rates or hedged through floating-to-fixed interest rate swaps).  
The top 5 performing S-Reits and property trusts in Q1 2022 averaged 14.1 per cent total returns, outperforming STI's 9.6 per cent, and are mainly from the hospitality and office sub-segments. They are: Suntec Reit (+17.6 per cent), Frasers Hospitality Trust (+15.1 per cent), Far East Hospitality Trust (+13.1 per cent), CDL Hospitality Trusts (+13.0 per cent), and Ascott Residence Trust (+11.5 per cent).  
Drivers that potentially drove the sub-segments were the continued reopening theme and relaxation of Covid measures across Singapore and the region, as well as the positive momentum in office rental rates.   REIT Watch is a weekly column on The Business Times, read the original version.


REIT Watch - Singapore office S-Reits poised to benefit from positive rental momentum

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>As concerns over China persist, Asia Ex-Japan managers are becoming more constructive on the ASEAN Region and appear amenable to increasing allocations.</li>
<li>Indonesia and Singapore are the largest country allocations, Indonesia/Vietnam the key overweights and Malaysia/Thailand the key underweights. Only 20.4% of managers have any Malaysia exposure at all.</li>
<li>Sea Ltd and Bank Central Asia are the key overweights in the region.  Recent activity has favoured Cisarua Mountain Dairy, Central Pattana Pub and Telekomunikasi Indonesia.</li>
</ul>


As concerns over China persist, Asia Ex-Japan managers are becoming more constructive on the ASEAN Region and appear amenable to increasing allocations.
Indonesia and Singapore are the largest country allocations, Indonesia/Vietnam the key overweights and Malaysia/Thailand the key underweights. Only 20.4% of managers have any Malaysia exposure at all.
Sea Ltd and Bank Central Asia are the key overweights in the region.  Recent activity has favoured Cisarua Mountain Dairy, Central Pattana Pub and Telekomunikasi Indonesia.


ASEAN Reversal.  Asia Ex-Japan Managers Raise Allocations

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Abacus aims to raise around US$146m (A$200m) via issuing new shares worth 7.1% of issued shares.</li>
<li>The company will use the proceeds from the placement to pay down debt that it has accumulated from earlier acquisition/construction.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the recent developments and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>


Abacus aims to raise around US$146m (A$200m) via issuing new shares worth 7.1% of issued shares.
The company will use the proceeds from the placement to pay down debt that it has accumulated from earlier acquisition/construction.
In this note, we will talk about the recent developments and run the deal through our ECM framework.


Abacus Property Group Placement - Previous Deal Did Well, This One Won’t Be Accretive

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>PropertyGuru and Bridgetown 2 announced, on 23rd Jul 2021, that they have entered into a business combination agreement which will see PropertyGuru go public in the US. </li>
<li>Both the companies will hold their respective EGMs next week and aim to complete the listing by 18th Mar 2022.</li>
<li>We have looked at the company’s prior listing attempt, in Australia in 2019, and the current SPAC merger. In this note, we will talk about the recent updates.</li>
</ul>


PropertyGuru and Bridgetown 2 announced, on 23rd Jul 2021, that they have entered into a business combination agreement which will see PropertyGuru go public in the US. 
Both the companies will hold their respective EGMs next week and aim to complete the listing by 18th Mar 2022.
We have looked at the company’s prior listing attempt, in Australia in 2019, and the current SPAC merger. In this note, we will talk about the recent updates.


PropertyGuru/Bridgetown 2 SPAC Listing/Merger - Peers Are Down a Lot, as the Deal Nears Completion

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>There are signs that a base has been building in Real Estate allocations, and that sentiment is starting to stabilise.</li>
<li>Average weights in the Real Estate sector ticked higher by 0.25% and 5.43% of managers moved to overweight, closing the net underweight by 0.22%.</li>
<li>Central Pattana Pub (CPN TB), China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services (1209 HK) and Capitaland (CAPL SP) were beneficiaries of recent inflows</li>
</ul>


There are signs that a base has been building in Real Estate allocations, and that sentiment is starting to stabilise.
Average weights in the Real Estate sector ticked higher by 0.25% and 5.43% of managers moved to overweight, closing the net underweight by 0.22%.
Central Pattana Pub (CPN TB), China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services (1209 HK) and Capitaland (CAPL SP) were beneficiaries of recent inflows


Singapore

CapitaLand Limited is a real estate company focused on investment holding. The Company and its subsidiaries are principally engaged in investment holding, real estate development, investment in real estate financial products and real estate assets, investment advisory and management services, as well as the management of serviced residences.

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Capitaland (CAPL SP)

REIT Watch - Singapore office S-Reits poised to benefit from positive rental momentum

Singapore's Central Business District (CBD) saw Grade A office rents record the fastest quarterly growth since rents turned...

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX)

ASEAN Reversal. Asia Ex-Japan Managers Raise Allocations

As concerns over China persist, Asia Ex-Japan managers are becoming more constructive on the ASEAN Region and appear amenable to increasing...

Steven Holden

Abacus Property Group Placement - Previous Deal Did Well, This One Won’t Be Accretive

Abacus aims to raise around US$146m (A$200m) via issuing new shares worth 7.1% of issued shares. In this note, we will run the deal through our ECM...

Sumeet Singh

PropertyGuru/Bridgetown 2 SPAC Listing/Merger - Peers Are Down a Lot, as the Deal Nears Completion

PropertyGuru and Bridgetown 2 announced, on 23rd Jul 2021, that they have entered into a business combination agreement which will see PropertyGuru...

Sumeet Singh

Asia Real Estate: Early Stage Recovery

There are signs that a base has been building in Real Estate allocations, and that sentiment is starting to stabilise among active Asia Ex-Japan...

Steven Holden

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