1. Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) has been around for decades but only grown in popularity in recent years. The SPAC fever has died down in the US after a crazy run up in early 2021 and Singapore are now launching the first batch of SPACs on SGX.2. Why SPACs and why now? The economy is undergoing a restructuring - it is becoming more tech-driven and increasingly powered by intangible assets. Singapore have been a hotbed of tech startups but they are not listed on the SGX.3. SGX has lost a couple of big name tech companies who chose to list in overseas markets to tap a wider investor base. For e.g. Sea and Razer. PropertyGuru is merging with a SPAC in the US.4. It is a catch-22 situation whereby if SGX does not have big name listings, it would not be able to attract investors. B
1. I was interviewed on MoneyFM 89.3 this morning about the recent big news involving $IFAST CORPORATION LTD.(AIY.SI)$ iFAST acquiring a digital bank, BFC Bank. I'll repeat some key points here if you are following this development. Link to listen to the interview: https://omny.fm/shows/moneyfm-morning-show/companies-to-watch-ifast-to-obtain-a-banking-licen2. First of all, give some credit to iFAST for taking a big step to becoming a global company. This is the first time iFAST ventured out of Asia and getting a foothold in the UK. It is rare for a Singapore company to go global. Of course, a lot more has to be done to be truly global but who says we can't celebrate every milestone along the way?3. An interesting question asked
1. $DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD(D05.SI)$ DBS was hovering near $30 for several months before it broke through it convincingly to $35 currently. What is causing such a strong surge?2. I believe the key reason is the looming rising interest rates. We have experienced numerous talks about this but what makes this time different? Inflation. Despite printing money for the last 13 years, inflation has not crept up until Covid did us a favour to disrupt the supply chain. It became a catalyst for inflation to rise.3. Raising interest rate is almost a sure thing now to curb inflation. The macro environment took a 180 degree turn and banks will benefit from this because their net inter