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Hong Kong Reigns Supreme As Asian Financial Centre - Study

Tom Burroughes

26 November 2018

Hong Kong edges ahead of rival Asian financial hubs Tokyo and Singapore, with Singapore said to be held back by a limited stock of prime grade office space, according to commercial real estate services firm .

Hong Kong scored 61 per cent, doing well, Colliers said, on socio-economic factors, including employment criteria such as political stability, ease of doing business and regulatory governance, and wealth factors such as stock market value, city inward FDI, and position in cross-border banking. Under property factors, high wages and rents push up employer costs, but total office stock is high and there is a wide gap in rents between the CBD and other areas. The jurisdiction is second in Asia on human factors, due partly to a low tax rate and high quality of living.

Tokyo scores 60 per cent and comes into second spot. It benefits from its large size, high wealth and stability as a global financial hub. These factors are partly offset by its low property score - reflecting high staff costs, rents and a conservative office facility offering. However, Tokyo scores well on human factors, due largely to its high quality of living, safety, climate and lack of pollution. 

Singapore has a 55 per cent score, achieving high marks for employment criteria, due to high political stability, ease of doing business, high-quality infrastructure and strong regulatory governance. It lacks the banking scale of Tokyo or Hong Kong but is a key wealth management centre. Singapore only has a modest score on property factors, due largely to its limited stock of prime grade office space. However, Singapore comes top on human factors such as personal tax, safety, living quality, climate and pollution, and the high-tech city metric included in the scoring.

The Colliers report, Top Locations in Asia: Finance, examines 16 cities in developed and emerging markets across Asia and looks at almost 60 criteria across a spectrum of socio-economic, property and human factors to determine the best locations in Asia for finance sector occupiers. 

In second place is Shanghai and in fourth spot, is Seoul.