Singapore-focused investors look to tech sector for growth: poll
Power and utilities ranks as second sector to draw most investments, followed by asset and wealth management
[SINGAPORE] Even as the tech sector takes a beating across the world, Singapore-focused investors believe it will attract the most investment across the next three years.
This view was held by nearly two-thirds of 322 Singapore-focused investors polled by professional services company PwC between Sep 1 and Oct 6, according to its 2025 Global Investors Survey released on Tuesday (Dec 9).
Power and utilities ranked as the second sector to draw the most investments at 27 per cent, followed by asset and wealth management at 22 per cent.
That mirrored the global sentiment, where 61 per cent of 1,074 investment professionals polled across 26 countries said that tech was twice or thrice as attractive as the next three sectors.
More than half of the respondents are from organisations such as banks, venture capital groups, funds and other financial institutions, which manage more than US$50 billion in assets.
The poll results come as the tech sector has shed 22,000 jobs this year globally, according to TechCrunch.
This follows 150,000 redundancies in 2024.
Globally, investors remained cautious about global growth against a “challenging macroeconomic environment”, said PwC. Just over a quarter of investors expected “moderate to significant improvement” in global growth over the next year.
Despite the caution, Singapore ranked as one of the top 10 investment destinations globally across the respondents. PwC found that 12 per cent of global investors identified Singapore as “attractive for investment” over the next three years.
This was ahead of Australia at 10 per cent, Vietnam at 8 per cent, Hong Kong at 6 per cent, and South Korea at 4 per cent.
The top three preferred markets were the United States at 67 per cent, India at 45 per cent, and China at 32 per cent.
Digital transformation and cybersecurity in focus
Nearly all Singapore-focused respondents indicated that companies they invest in should “boost investment in digital transformation”, said PwC.
Nine in 10 Singapore-focused respondents also advocated for companies to increase capital allocation in cybersecurity.
More than three in five investors described “high or extreme exposure” to cyber risk in the next 12 months at the companies they invest in or cover, with nearly as many seeing the same risk in technological disruption.
Globally, only 55 per cent of respondents described high or extreme exposure to cyber risks, while 53 per cent said they had exposure to technological disruptions.
Beyond technological concerns, Singapore-focused respondents also show a higher sensitivity to global headwinds, said PwC.
More than half of the respondents described “high or extreme exposure” in the next 12 months to inflation at the companies they invest in or cover. Geopolitical conflict and macroeconomic volatility were also identified as significant areas of concern by nearly half.
Demand for greater transparency
Nearly nine in 10 Singapore-focused respondents expressed a willingness to at least “moderately increase” investments in companies developing and investing in enterprise-wide artificial intelligence (AI) transformation efforts.
This comes after they saw “marked improvements” over the past year in productivity, with four in five seeing a rise in profitability and 70 per cent seeing revenue gains in the companies they invested in.
“Discerning investors are focusing on companies which are driving profitability growth with enterprise-wide AI transformation,” said Patrick Yeo, markets leader at PwC Singapore.
Yeo also highlighted Singapore’s commitment to advancing AI and emerging technologies, saying that it positioned Singapore as a hub for businesses to develop new business models, strengthen competitive positioning and scale in the region.
Still, Singapore-focused investors called for greater transparency, especially in AI. Just about two in five said that the companies they invested in disclosed “sufficient information” on AI strategies, policies and risks, as well as the use of AI to reinvent business models.
Fewer investors – or 35 per cent – said their investment targets estimated return or hurdle rates on AI investments.
“Investors want visibility into how AI is being deployed, what risks are being managed, and how returns are being evaluated,” said Anthony Dias, PwC Singapore’s AI hub leader.
“What’s missing in many cases is structured reporting on AI strategy, investment rationale, and business impact.”
Concurrently, Singapore-focused investors also said they were keen on transparency in innovation strategies, plans to manage climate risks and resilience strategies.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
