Knowledge Hub

Tenant enquiries and site visits rose during the surveyed period. In Hong Kong SAR, the border re-opening and relaxation of anti-pandemic measures led to more enquiries and inspections.

Expansionary demand grew across all sectors, led by retail and industrial. Hong Kong SAR registered a rise in demand for more space, while India continued to see robust new set up and expansion activity.

Incentives weakened across the region in February, particularly in Australia and Korea. Rents continued to recover, led by Korea and India.

Sentiment in most markets improved along with the recovery of expansionary demand. While Asia Pacific remains a tenants’ market, landlords’ negotiation power is increasing.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/briefs/Asia-Pacific-Leasing-Market-Sentiment-Index-March-2023

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Interest in the logistics sector has persisted over the past half-year, and both development and transaction activity have remained strong. That said, the market appears to be entering a period of transition, and there are some concerns that the previously tight balance between demand and supply has already started to loosen.

Although vacancies in Greater Tokyo and Greater Osaka remain moderate overall, average rents experienced a contraction over the past half-year. Furthermore, some existing facilities are reportedly struggling with vacancies, and pre-leasing activity has been sluggish in several new developments.

Indeed, a wave of new supply is forecast over the next few years in both submarkets, and competition for tenants will increase, which is likely to contribute to some upward vacancy movement and revisions in rents. Meanwhile, structural factors also look set to affect confidence in the logistics sector. The ongoing labour shortage continues to increase labour costs for logistics companies, while the increase in construction costs and interest rates are forcing some investors to reconsider acquiring land for development as well as logistics facilities for the meantime.

Nonetheless, the fundamentals in the sector are still strong, and tenant demand will likely persist due to the strong growth potential of the e-commerce industry. Hence, the outlook should remain positive overall for the logistics market going forward.

This report was originally published in https://www.savills.co.jp/research_articles/167577/210564-0

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MSCI has tracked board gender diversity every year since 2009. The Women on Boards report highlights trends across markets and sectors for publicly listed companies. The annual review provides companies, researchers, and policymakers with an objective overview of the changing share of female representation at the board level as well as among CEO and CFO roles.

Key findings

• Overall, the percentage of director seats held by women continued to increase in 2022, reaching 24.5% among constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index, up from 22.6% in the previous year. The percentage of index constituents with at least 30% female directors increased in 2022 to 38% compared with 33% a year ago.

• After a noticeable slowdown in 2020, the rate of growth of women on boards rebounded in 2021 and continued to recover in 2022 in both developed markets (DM) and emerging markets (EM), with the exception of the U.S. While the overall percentage of director seats held by women among U.S.-domiciled constituents of the MSCI World Index continued to increase and passed 30% in 2022, the rate of increase has slowed for the last three years.

• In 2022, health care surpassed other sectors both in terms of the total percentage of director positions held by women (27.3%) and the percentage of companies with at least 30% director seats held by women (45.4%).

• The percentage of female CEOs increased to 5.8% (up from 5.3%) in 2022 among companies in the MSCI ACWI Index, while the percentage of CFO positions held by women increased to 16.9% (up from 15.8%) among the same peer set. The percentage of women CFOs was the highest among EM companies (19.9%).

This report was originally published in https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/women-on-boards-progress-report-2022

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With e-commerce penetration moderating and the growth in online sales normalising, at the same time consumers are returning to physical retail stores in great numbers, boosting footfall across many markets in Asia Pacific. Our research finds that an overwhelming majority of consumers in the region still choose to purchase goods using a range of different physical and digital touchpoints, otherwise known as omnichannel.

This Viewpoint identifies the factors driving the return to brick-and-mortar retail and explains how operators of physical stores can adapt and evolve to ensure they stay relevant in the omnichannel world.

While evidence shows that physical stores will remain at the forefront of sales strategies, CBRE believes their role must adapt and evolve to serve omnichannel retail. This evolution will see retail stores shift away from being locations purely where transactions are made, towards becoming hubs that provide comprehensive customer experiences. Investors and landlords must also adjust their strategies to suit changing consumer behaviours and retailers’ preferences.

This report was originally published in https://www.cbre.com/insights/viewpoints/optimising-brick-and-mortar-stores-to-serve-omnichannel-retail

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