Hong Kong’s tycoon-owned property giants could take a leaf from Singapore groups

THE Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is valued at several times that of the Singapore Exchange , which perhaps reflects the greater vibrancy of the territory’s public equities market versus the Republic’s.

However, Singapore clearly leads Hong Kong in the real estate investment trust (Reit) space. There are around four times as many listed Reits and property-related business trusts in Singapore compared with Hong Kong.

The territory’s Reit market started slightly later than Singapore’s – in 2005 versus 2002. Over the years, while leading Singapore property groups such as CapitaLand Investment (CLI) and Mapletree Investments have embraced listed Reits and private real estate funds, big Hong Kong property groups have generally been slow at becoming capital light and growing fund management.