Today, the economic situation in Venezuela has greatly changed for the worse, but those who had money have held on to it and now Spain has become the destination for this private capital. The investments are usually focused on buying top quality housing, mainly in Madrid, or on acquiring stakes in a select group of businesses with reasonable returns.
UBS | In this report, we focus on three pivotal questions that we consider crucial for investing in any security in Spain: First, what is the economic outlook for 2016/17, and what are the biggest economic policy challenges that the next government will face? Second, what are the likely scenarios for the outcome of the elections on 26 June? And third, what is the valuation and relative attractiveness of Spanish assets, how will asset markets react to different election outcomes, and what is or is not priced in?
Spain is the third most attractive European country for property investment in 2016, while Madrid is the continent’s second favourite city to invest in after London, according to the CBRE report “Global Investors Intentions.” The report also highlights the increasing sustainability of the European property sector, in comparison with last year’s performance and with other regions across the globe.
UBS | We conducted a survey to determine whether Eurozone corporates are starting to invest again, and how this would be funded – a crucial question not just for the business cycle, but also for individual sectors and stocks.
The European Fund For Strategic Investments (EFSI), better known as the Junker plan, was marketed as a “strategic” investment plan which would create jobs and infrastructure and, moreover, would not cost anything.
UBS | Our base case forecasts for China’s growth are already below consensus at 6.2% for 2016 and 5.8% for 2017. In this note we study the impact on global economies and assets of a much darker and, in our view, extremely unlikely scenario where China real GDP growth slips to 4%, and nominal growth below 1.5%.
Following the oil price slump, both wealthy countries will relatively see their privileged economic position trimmed, but they can still capitalize on their status as oil producers, boosting production to defend market share and leading the European M&A market, respectively.
Until very recently, Chinese investors’ preferred choice was the real estate sector. Chronic new housing oversupply led many to fear an eventual burst of the real state bubble and to abandon their brick and mortar investment ambitions. Looking for fresh alternatives, many are rushing into the buying of shares in the local stock exchanges. The number of individual investment accounts grew 400% in the first quarter of this year.
Known as the BRICS bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) wants to become an alternative to the IMF and the World Bank. The initiative led by China adds to Beijing’s ambitious project of recovering the ancient Silk Road. So far, more than 40 countries from the five continents showed their support, proving China’s growing –and controversial– global influence.
A fourth wave of Chinese investors keen to explore growth opportunities is emerging, according to a recent report from the consultancy firm Knight Frank. And experts predict that the trend will grow further in the coming years, fostering greater synergies between Chinese real estate agents and overseas Chinese investors. The goals and strategies of this new investor are more diversified; with a special focus in new and secondary markets, and away from major cities such as London, New York. Countries like Spain and Portugal are able to provide additional perks, such as programmes through which investors can obtain residence permits.