Published April 25, 2009

Lee Boon Yang to be Keppel chairman

Lim Chee Onn stepping down on June 30

By VINCENT WEE

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CHANGES at the top was the big news of the day at the Keppel Corp annual general meeting yesterday.

LEE BOON YANG Retired from government at the end of last month but continues to serve as MP

Non-executive chairman Lim Chee Onn will step down with effect from June 30, to be succeeded by Lee Boon Yang. Long-serving independent director Lee Tsao Yuan also stepped down to focus on her professional interests and her family. Mrs Lee had also stepped down from OCBC's board for the same reasons.

Mr Lim will, however, continue to be senior adviser to Keppel. When Keppel announced in December that Mr Lim would relinquish his role as CEO but continue as non-executive chairman, the board had then considered it important the company should continue to benefit from Mr Lim's business network and relationships for a period of time so as to ensure a smooth transition in the executive leadership, Keppel said.

'On behalf of the board and management, we would like to extend our deep gratitude and appreciation to Mr Lim for his invaluable contributions to the Keppel Group during the transition period and over the last 25 years of dedicated service when he was part of the executive management of the group,' said lead independent director Tony Chew.

On the appointment of Dr Lee, Mr Lim said: 'Keppel is very privileged that Boon Yang has agreed to accept the appointments as director and chairman of the company. We shall benefit immensely from his vast experience and expertise acquired during his years of service in both the public and private sectors.'

'I thank the Keppel board for appointing me as director and chairman. I shall do my utmost to further Keppel's extensive business interest in the global market and to enhance shareholder value,' said Dr Lee.

'Mr Lim's service and contributions to the Keppel Group are immeasurable and deeply appreciated. His support, advice and strong strategic relationships, both in the political and business arenas, will continue to bring to bear in the group,' said CEO Choo Chiau Beng.

Mr Lim is a member of the Council of Presidential Advisers and has also previously served on the Cabinet as minister without portfolio in the Prime Minister's Office.

Dr Lee has been in politics for over 20 years, leading various ministries. He retired from government at the end of last month but continues to serve as member of parliament for Jalan Besar GRC.

Published April 25, 2009

Reaching out to manicured millionaires

More Indonesian women with big bucks in S'pore than S'poreans

By SIOW LI SEN

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WEALTHY women from Singapore are being outnumbered in their own backyard by their well-heeled sisters from Indonesia. Singapore has some 16,000 women millionaires worth an average of US$4.2 million, a survey by private bank RBS Coutts has found. These Singaporeans own a combined US$71 billion, and represent a huge potential market for the private banking industry in Asia.

If that is impressive, then cast an eye on the bankable and wealthy Indonesian women in Singapore. They number 20,000 and hold in their manicured hands some US$93 billion - an average of more than US$4.6 million each. That makes them more numerous and somewhat richer than their Singaporean counterparts.

This survey, perhaps the first on high net worth women, does not take into account the property they own.

The annual World Wealth Report, released by Merrill Lynch and research firm Capgemini, said that in 2007, Singapore had 77,000 millionaires - defined as those with more than US$1 million - making up 1.7 per cent of the population here.

The RBS Coutts survey in 2008 also found that Hong Kong has 37,094 wealthy women with an average net worth of US$4.4 million, representing a total of US$152 billion. But they, too, have been outshone at home, as Hong Kong also has an estimated 120,000 bankable high net worth women from China.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have the largest concentrations of wealthy non-resident Indian women in the Asia-Pacific region, the survey found.

Women generally trade less than men and are more risk averse, and so would have lost less money in the current global financial crisis.

'Yes, they've lost less money,' said Esther Heer, RBS Coutts head of private banking, North Asia.

The bulk of their wealth is still kept as deposits in banks, she told BT yesterday.

'My personal experience is that women are not so keen to leverage their portfolios, not so keen to trade, happy to buy a stock and keep it for the medium to long term and they're more geared towards income products,' said Ms Heer.

'They are keen on property, especially those with children,' she added.

The survey found that Singapore women millionaires have only 23 per cent of their money with private banks. In Hong Kong, it's slightly higher at 26 per cent.

According to Synovate, an international research house which conducted the survey, wealthy women fall into four categories. One is single professional women who are very focused on money with little time for other activities. They are savvy investors and Ms Heer said that quite a number of them went to work after graduation, and after a few years easily earn US$500,000 a year.

The next category is professional women married with kids. They are more visible at their workplace and have to balance both career and family but career is the priority. Their attitude to money is to get as much as possible.

Another group consists of married women with kids who may or may not work and family is their top priority. They like to invest their own money.

The final category is married women whose children are grown up and their attitude towards life and money is to enjoy both as much as possible.

When it comes to investments, Ms Heer noted, women are sharper than men.

'Women are not as gullible as men, they want more details and want to know more.'

There are also women who are divorced or recently widowed who sometimes feel very intimidated and private bankers need to understand this, she said.

RBS Coutts has begun training a dedicated group of private bankers to better understand and serve women clients.

The bank, which yesterday launched a new private banking initiative aimed specifically at high net worth Asian women, has in all 150 private bankers in the region.

'The women-specific approach broke new ground in the UK when it was launched several years ago; and continues to be very successful. We aim to deliver an equally tailored and effective proposition to women in Asia,' said Ms Heer.

Published April 25, 2009

Watch this vacant office space

Vacancies hit 10% in Q1; broader property market sees prices fall across sectors; rentals also slide, URA data shows

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

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SINGAPORE'S property sector continues to take the bumpy slide down, with the office market gathering its share of bruises.

This segment took a hit for the second consecutive quarter, government data showed. The broader property market also saw prices and rentals slipping.

The take-up of office space fell nearly 323,000 sq ft in Q1 2009 after sliding 366,000 sq ft in Q4 last year.

That sent islandwide vacancies for offices up from 8.8 per cent at end-Q4 2008 to 10 per cent by end-Q1 2009 - the first time that Singapore is seeing double-digit office vacancies since late-2006.

CB Richard Ellis executive director (office services) Moray Armstrong reiterated the Singapore office market could see negative take-up for the whole of this year in excess of one million sq ft. 'Many of the corporates we talk to are well advanced in implementing their restructuring programmes. From this, we deduce we may be going through the period of sharpest contraction in office demand now. Contraction may ease in the second-half,' he said.

Related article: Click here for URA's news release

'The outlook for office rents remains bearish because of the negative take-up and the onset of greater supply from completion of new office developments,' he added.

CBRE expects office vacancies to rise sharply going forward. Rival firm Colliers International predicts that the average gross monthly rental of Grade A space in the central business district will ease by up to 30 per cent over the next three quarters of 2009 from the Q1 level - which was already 22 per cent lower than at the end of last year.

The weak demand in the office sector also rubbed off on business park space, which saw negative take-up of about 215,000 sq ft in Q1, against positive take-up of some 10,700 sq ft in Q4 2008. Vacancy rate for the sector increased from 6.2 per cent in Q4 2008 to 9.7 per cent in Q1 2009.

In the private residential segment, URA's overall islandwide price index slipped 14.1 per cent in Q1 over the preceding quarter, slightly steeper than the flash estimate decline of 13.8 per cent. The Q1 drop was also the biggest quarterly drop to date. The index has now eased 21.2 per cent since peaking in Q2 last year.

Colliers International director Tay Huey Ying says: 'Mass market homes could see more gradual price corrections averaging about 8 to 12 per cent over the next three quarters (from Q1 2009 levels) as more sellers in the secondary market as well as developers with unsold units from earlier launches can be expected to adjust the pricing of their properties to near-current levels.'

She predicts bigger average price declines of 10-15 per cent for the mid-tier and high-end/luxury segments over the same period.

URA's private residential rental indices show that the sharpest contraction in Q1 was for non-landed homes in the Core Central Region, which shrank 10.3 per cent quarter on quarter. The overall private residential rental index slipped 8.5 per cent in Q1, bigger than the 5.3 per cent drop in Q4. 'The decline in rents could be attributed to supply outstripping demand as more expats left the country and to more new projects being completed,' CBRE executive director Li Hiaw Ho said.

Developers sold a total 2,596 private homes in Q1, about six times the 419 units in Q4 2008.

The latest Q1 number was 64 units lower than the 2,660-unit figure collated from monthly developer sales stats (for January to March 2009). The decline reflects lapsing of options on units sold earlier in the quarter, URA's spokeswoman said.

Market watchers also observed a slight easing in residential supply.

Some 27,423 private homes are expected to be completed between Q2 2009 and 2011, lower than the 31,004 units projected for completion between 2009 and 2011 in URA's Q4 2008 data.

The smaller pipeline supply partly reflects the completion of 2,230 units in Q1 2009.

Developers may also have postponed redevelopment of some of the sites they had bought through en bloc sales and delayed construction, said URA's spokeswoman.

URA's shop rental index eased 3.3 per cent quarter on quarter in Q1, after dipping 0.6 per cent in Q4. The all industrial rental index slid 5.6 per cent in Q1, also worse than the 3.7 per cent fall in Q4.

Summing up prospects for Singapore's property markets, Knight Frank managing director Tan Tiong Cheng said: 'For the private residential sector, there's evidence of a pick-up in activity - not just in the primary market but also subsales and resales. For office and industrial, there are going to be more rental declines because of the economic slowdown. Retail will be difficult. New malls opening this year may drum up business, but it will be at the expense of existing malls, given that tourism numbers are weak.'