Where Is the Money Going?

Family offices managing funds for wealthy names throughout the Asian continent are enjoying solid returns for their clients selling real estate assets purchased in the downturn.

- Willy Yeo

However, with the economy slowing down now more than ever, following China’s own economic plateauing, the outlook for such trade is now less certain. Regional economies are weak, exports are down, and currencies are depreciating. Despite that, the anomaly is that assets continue to get pricier because of the tides of new money from interested buyers globally, amidst growing risks on the macroeconomic level. This flies in the face of standard economic thinking, but as Asia’s High Net Worth Investors (HNWIs) consider their limited investment options, they may then decide to put more money into these rising asset classes of property, thereby exacerbating the risks of an asset bubble. When one tries to be rational about an irrational market, this is when things start to go awry.