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REITs and Infrastructure Trusts have been gaining traction across Asia-Pacific. Many countries have begun to test waters by releasing their pioneer REITs. Philippines has launched their pioneer REIT in 2020, alongside UAE that released their first Green REIT, whilst China’s highly anticipated REIT pilot program finally came to fruition in June 2021, with the launch of the retail tranches of its first nine REITs all oversubscribed on its first day. China REITs are currently only backed by infrastructure assets packaged in a mutual fund structure, deliberately picked by authorities to spearhead the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

India made its debut for REITs with Blackstone and Embassy-sponsored Embassy Office Parks REIT getting listed on April 1, 2019 as India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust.

Two other REITs, the Raheja Group-backed Mindspace Business Parks REIT and more recently, Brookfield India REIT, have also debuted on the Indian stock exchanges. Together, these three REITs total approximately USD 7.5 billion of market capitalization and cover 86.0 million square feet of Grade-A commercial office space in India. India’s infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) market is growing leaps and bounds and stands at over USD 10billion and is expected to expand to over US$100 billion in the next five years, according to CRISIL Ratings.

The adoption of REITs will continue to accelerate with momentum in 2022 likely to be sustained by the region’s emerging markets. Thailand has already four in waiting. Philippines unveiled its first REIT at the height of the pandemic last year.

This reference guide covers REITs and Infrastructure Trust regulations and taxation in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore.

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An increasing number of institutions, especially financial institutions, have started to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities in alignment with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

MSCI ESG Research LLC data and metrics can be used at the portfolio, sector and security level to support reporting on the four pillars of the TCFD recommendations: governance, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets.

This report was originally published in https://www.msci.com/www/research-paper/tcfd-aligned-climate-risk/03306029396

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With Singapore’s economy in a position of strength, being forecasted to surpass pre-pandemic average annual growth numbers by growing 3.8% year-on-year in 2022, Cushman & Wakefield’s latest Singapore Market Outlook H2 2022 report expects the overall Singapore property market to see relatively strong but slower growth as investors seek out safe havens for wealth preservation and diversification amidst global uncertainties.

This report was originally published in https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/singapore/insights/singapore-market-outlook-h2-2022

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With the pandemic now well into its third year, most office occupiers in Asia Pacific are displaying a clear shift towards embracing real estate strategies that recognise that COVID-19 is here to stay for the long-term.

Among these approaches are a sharper focus on wellness and sustainability in the workplace, with CBRE Asia Pacific’s 2022 Spring Office Occupier Survey finding that most tenants are implementing or at the very least considering a range of related initiatives.

This ViewPoint by CBRE Research expands upon the survey findings and identifies the main challenges and priorities facing landlords and investors as they look to respond to growing occupier demand for green buildings, leases and technologies.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/viewpoints/asia-pacific-viewpoint-landlords-and-tenants-must-collaborate-to-achieve-sustainability-goals-jul

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CHINA

“The year got off to a challenging start in China with a slowing economy and continued debt crisis exacerbated by lockdowns. Liquidity crunches may force developers to accelerate disposals at discounted rates while interest rate cuts and reduced quarantine periods should make investments more attractive.” – James Macdonald, China

HONG KONG

“In Hong Kong investment sentiment has stabilised as the local epidemic situation has improved but plenty of caution remains. Investors are keen to look for value-add strategies including redevelopment and conversion.” – Simon Smith, Hong Kong

INDIA

“Private equity investment in life sciences research and development real estate in India has gained momentum since 2021 and we expect to see further growth in the segment, owing to favourable policies, a large workforce, and cost efficiencies.” – Arvind Nandan, India

INDONESIA

“Positive figures for the Indonesian economy combined with an improved pandemic situation has revived sentiment in the property market with some sectors seeing higher absorption levels. Despite this rental and price levels have remained under pressure during the first half of the year.” – Tommy Henria Bastamy, Indonesia

JAPAN

“Overall, the Japanese real estate market continues to attract interest from overseas investors, thanks partly to a much weaker Yen, while some remain concerned about inflation and interest hikes, and are taking a wait-and-see attitude.” – Tetsuya Kaneko, Japan

PAKISTAN

“Pakistan loses almost 40% of its agricultural output to a lack of proper storage facilities. New developments in warehousing and cold chain facilities are being driven by the demand for higher standards and sustainability goals led by exporting firms and logistics operators.” – Nadine Malik, Pakistan

MALAYSIA

“Transaction activity in Malaysia during the quarter has been underpinned by interest in both the industrial logistics sector as well as sales of development sites and operating assets. With a number of notable deals scheduled for completion in the second half, the outlook is optimistic.” – Nabeel Hussain, Malaysia

SINGAPORE

“Although transaction volumes in Singapore were lower in Q2/2022, the latent interest in our real estate remains very high.” – Alan Cheong, Singapore

SOUTH KOREA

“Despite the heightened burden on investors from the upsurge in unit prices and the base rate, core investors continue to drive activity in the office sector.” – JoAnn Hong, South Korea

TAIWAN

“A surge in COVID-19 cases and the risk of interest rate hikes in Taiwan have negatively affected buyer confidence with both land and commercial property market activity slowing in the second quarter.” – Erin Ting, Taiwan

THAILAND

“Retailers are refocusing on key retail districts and the second quarter saw activity from major international brands. Despite the absence of Mainland Chinese tourists, the luxury retail market is proving surprisingly resilient.” – Thanjira Wongsathirayakhun, Thailand

VIETNAM

“The first half of 2022 saw several macro prudential policies from the State Bank pushed forward.  Not least is a review of foreign debt instruments, greater transparency around corporate bonds and a restriction in allocation of debt to real estate.  Whist there may be some short term pain for exposed borrowers, the overall long term health of the property sector will be substantially improved.”  – Troy Griffiths, Vietnam

This report was originally published in https://www.savills.co.jp/research_articles/167577/207793-0

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Cushman & Wakefield Greater China’s report begins by considering and explaining what climate positive is and means. Secondly, the report looks at a number of selected climate-positive approaches for sustainable real estate. Thirdly, the report examines two proven rating and benchmarking systems that can go some way to help enterprises achieve their climate positive goals, and they are:

  • At the enterprise level – The Task Force on ClimateRelated Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and;
  • At the real estate level – The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).

This report was originally published in https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/greater-china/insights/china-sustainability-climate-positive-report-2022

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This starter guide provides a quick summary of approaches to responsible investment for direct and indirect real estate investors. It outlines options for including ESG issues in the investment process, management of assets and the relationship between asset owner and investment manager.

Investing in real estate presents two key ESG considerations when compared with many other asset classes. Firstly, real estate is usually a long-term investment, allowing more time for material ESG issues to play out in ways that affect investors, the environment and society. Secondly, many ESG issues play out at a local level, for example extreme weather, water stress, legislative and/or regulatory requirements and community relations. Direct real estate investments are inextricably linked to a specific geographic location, making the incorporation of ESG issues particularly relevant.

This report was originally published in https://www.unpri.org/an-introduction-to-responsible-investment/an-introduction-to-responsible-investment-real-estate/5628.article

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The Fed raised its key benchmark rate by 75 bps in June, to 1.50%-1.75%, to combat inflationary pressures, which reached 8.6% in May, the highest level in over 40 years. Central banks in the region followed suit with hikes in Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and the Philippines noted. The hawkish stance heightened concerns about a possible US recession, which further clouded capital markets. Yields on 10-year treasuries rose above 3% to peak at 3.5% during the month before falling back. Key sections of the treasury yield curve also inverted as data on US inflation drove traders to boost bets on the pace of Fed tightening. Two-year yields rose above 10-year rates for the first time since April  while five-year yields were noted to have surged as much as 17 bps above 30-year rates to record the widest spread in over two decades. Consequently, markets are pricing in a growing risk that the Fed’s  bid to engineer a soft landing for the world’s biggest economy are likely to falter.

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Pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds, insurance companies and other institutional owners of capital are committing to reduce financed emissions across their portfolios.

This guide from MSCI ESG Research outlines concrete steps to help asset owners convert climate commitments to action.

This guide was originally published in https://www.msci.com/www/research-paper/implementing-net-zero-a-guide/03298099988

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Despite the easing of Covid’s fifth wave in Hong Kong1, the US Fed increasing interest rates has hindered the investment market recovery and delayed investors’ decision-making in Q2. We expect sentiment will pick up in H2 2022 when investors gain more clarity on the rate hike, economic outlook and more relaxed social-distancing rules.

Supported by the strong demand and rental performance, industrial assets should remain the most preferred asset type, while co-living and residential developments are also attractive given solid housing demand. We expect to see funds and real estate firms, which accounted for 87% of the investment volume in Q2, to remain the key driver of the investment market for rest of 2022.

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