Overseas Singaporeans

150,000 Singaporean overseas
A lot in Australia and New Zealand
20,000 in China and US each

Sovereign wealth

UAE ADIA USD 875bn 1976 Oil
Singapore GIC USD 330bn 1981 Other
Norway Govt Pension USD 324bn 1996 Oil
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Fund USD 300 Oil
China State FX Invest. Co & Huejing Co. USD 200bn Other
Kuwait Reserve Fund for Future Generation USD 167bn 1953 Oil
Singapore Temasek Holdings USD 100bn 1974 Other
Qatar Qatar Investment Authority USD 40bn Oil/gas
Alaska Permanent Reserve Fund USD 39.4bn Oil
Brunei Brunei Investment Authority USD 30bn 1983 Oil

Average condo price (Tokyo)

2005 49.2mn yen S$615,000 Ratio of condo price to salary = 7.1
2006 51.5mn yen S$644,000 Ratio of condo price to salary = 7.3
2007 67.0mn yen S$837,500 Ratio of condo price to salary = 9.6

all condo prices used roughly 75sqm
ie psf $745 - $1000

HDB median resale prices

1 rm $115,000
2 rm $132,000
3 rm $171,000
4 rm $241,000
5 rm $300,000
Exec $358,000

Ratio of of 5 rm price / annual salary ($78,000) = 3.8
Ratio of Condo price / annual salary = 18

Huge discrepancy!

Singapore salary

45% of household earns below $4000 a mth

32% earns between $4000 to $8000

23% earns more than $8000

Salary vs Housing Prices

Singapore average household income $6260 per mth, $78,000 per yr

2005 ave PSF $500-700 ave selling price $995,000 condo units sold: 14,000
2006 ave PSF $600-800 ave selling price $1,420,000 condo units sold: 20,600

Ave selling price / household income = 18x

Comparison skewed bcos household price does not include HDB prices

Oil pdtn (OPEC)

OPEC has been producing 20-30mn barrels per day for past 10 yrs
98 22-23mn barrels per day
07 25-27mn barrels per day

CPF 2

Singaporeans have S$150,000 in home equity on average

S$35bn in Medisave, medisave is roughly 1/4 of total CPF contribution
ie CPF has S$120-140bn in all (35x4)
120bn / 3mn = $40,000
Average Singaporean has $40,000 in CPF
Average Singaporean needs $90,000 to $120,000 to retire (Age 65-85)

In 2030, 1mn Singaporeans above 65

Venus and Earth

Earth atmosphere has 1% CO2, average temperature is 15c
Venus atmosphere has 99% Co2, average temperature is 450c
Venus's temp is higher than mercury

70mn t of pollutants being released into the atmosphere every day

Indices

Indices are forcing investors to adopt similar strategies in investing.
Encourages a crowding of investment strategies.
May not be a good thing.

Titanium

Titaniumm makes up 15% of aircraft parts
Du Pont and US govt wants to do R&D to reduce Titanium cost by 50-90%
Now Titanium cost 20x more than steel