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RESEARCH • August 2024
Asia-Pacific
Overarching Thematics and Underlying Opportunities.
Asia-Pacific is a dynamic region, characterised by a high degree of heterogeneity where each market is defined by distinct economic structures, demographics, fiscal and monetary policies as well as political and cultural contexts. Such diversity implies that business and property cycles do not often run in parallel across markets, which creates multiple entry points for investors looking to diversify their global portfolios.
In our previous paper When Cassandra meets Pollyanna, we discussed the risks and opportunities in Asia-Pacific at that point in time, considering the prevailing sentiment across the global real estate market. Our view is unchanged. We think the relative upside in AsiaPacific outweighs the overly cautious stance that some real estate bears have perpetuated. As market sentiment starts to improve globally, it is timely to investigate the structural themes that we believe will drive selective opportunities over the next cycle.
This paper focuses on the developed markets of Asia-Pacific: Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Whilst market commentators often characterise the region as a whole, the drivers of each market are vastly different. These types of generalisations could cause investors to miss out on some of the compelling opportunities the region presents. By adopting a top-down approach and focusing on secular themes, we hope to draw out the investment schematics relevant to each market. We acknowledge that the overarching themes and underlying opportunities highlighted in this paper do not represent the entire opportunity set, but we aim to set a framework to help investors dissect the landscape in each market.
