How much does a fresh law graduate earn in Singapore?

So how much does a new lawyer earn in Singapore?
And the difference in pay or salary between graduating from the law schools of NUS and SMU?

According to MOE's employment survey results released in 2014:

National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law
Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (Hons)
Full-term perm employment: 98.2%
Basic Mean: $4,922
Gross Mean: $5,099
25th percentile: $4,500
75th percentile: $5,800

Singapore Management University (SMU) School of Law
Law (4-year programme)
Full-term perm employment: 100%
Basic Mean: $5,023
Gross Mean: $5,246
25th percentile: $4,500
75th percentile: $6,000

Cum Laude and above
Full-term perm employment: 100%
Basic Mean: $5,329
Gross Mean: $5,617
25th percentile: $4,750
75th percentile: $6,400

Asian Retail Investor Sentiment Rocked by Central Bank Policy, Oil Prices – Manulife

• Loose monetary policy drives sentiment higher in Japan, China; Indonesia and Malaysia see biggest drops
• Asian investors expect a 10 percent investment return in 2015, but retreat to cash makes that optimistic 

A crosscurrent of macro-economic developments, ranging from monetary easing and stimulus in Mainland China and Japan, to the collapse in oil prices, heavily influenced retail investor sentiment in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the Manulife Investor Sentiment Index.*

Investor sentiment across Asia, US, Canada 

Overall, regional sentiment was down 2 points to 26, dragged lower by Indonesia where sentiment dropped 14 points to 50, Malaysia which fell 8 points to 47, and Hong Kong which declined 5 points to -10.

"Retail investor sentiment is readily affected by factors that hurt their hip pocket and that impacts the employment and economic outlook. Investors in Indonesia were spooked by the lifting of the fuel price subsidy and associated inflation pressures, and Malaysia, being a net oil exporter, was hit by the collapse in oil prices. We expect oil to sink below US$40 a barrel and to stay low for about six months and this will continue to be a headwind for Malaysia's economy," says Megan Greene, Chief Economist, Manulife Asset Management.

Hong Kong sank further on investors' gloomy opinion of the real estate market -- with investment property falling a further 9 points to -36 -- due to high property prices and the prospect of interest rate increases given the US dollar peg. Less of a factor was Occupy Central, which only two in five Hong Kong investors said influenced their investment decisions.

The index declines were offset by a jump in Mainland China, where jubilant investors pushed the local index up 14 points to 29. The surge was driven by confidence in equity markets, with sentiment climbing 29 points to 58; reflecting retail investors' confidence due to lower interest rates, the strong lending environment and further liberalization of capital markets.

Japan was another riser, with sentiment up 4 points to 12, driven by the government's stimulus spending and Prime Minister Abe's December election victory which renewed his mandate for structural reform.

"An oversupply of everything from oil to liquidity drove markets and investor sentiment in late 2014," says Greene. "In 2015, big macro-economic events will continue to loom large in markets. China will continue to benefit from targeted monetary and fiscal stimulus, but will see its growth decelerate moderately to around 7 percent in 2015. When it comes to Japan we see very sluggish growth. The weaker yen has failed to boost exports due to competitiveness problems, so the outlook really hinges on deep structural reform."

Investors' hopes of hitting 10 percent returns optimistic given their fondness for cash

Retail investors across Asia are expecting on average, to achieve returns of 10 percent in 2015. At the low end of the range is Japan with hopes of 7.4 percent, while Indonesia sits at the top at 14.5 percent. Investors in Mainland China sit near the middle, expecting 11.4 percent, a mere fraction of the year-end 37 percent spike in the Shanghai Composite Index.

When asked which asset class investors expected to be a top performer in 2015, equities ranked on top (23 percent of investors). Property followed (20 percent of investors), but was especially backed in markets like Indonesia and the Philippines where equities are not a common investment. Region-wide, cash was placed equal second (also 20 percent of investors).

Closer inspection of what Asian investors intend to invest in over the next six months, however, raises questions over their ability to meet their performance targets, as cash remains the most-favored asset class and the top destination for increased allocation. This is despite the fact that Asians are already overweight cash, at 37 percent of their portfolios (excluding primary residence) by usual asset allocation standards.

Commenting on investors' optimistic expectations amid the prevailing market volatility, Peter Warnes, Head of Portfolio Solutions Group, International at Manulife Asset Management said, "Many individuals are finding it difficult to plan for the long term in the prevailing market context, but we feel that retreating to cash is not the solution, especially when the low interest environment means that cash won't yield returns."

Expected top performing asset classes and investment intentions in next 6 months

The exceptions to the prevailing preference for cash are China, Hong Kong and Japan where investors held neutral to negative views on cash in the fourth quarter. A smaller percentage of investors in these markets also say they will 'invest' more in cash in the next six months: Hong Kong (27 percent), China (17 percent) and Japan (12 percent). By contrast, investors in these markets are most bullish on equities, with sentiment towards stocks in China at 58 points, Japan at 37 points and Hong Kong at 11.

"A multi-asset investment solution can provide investors with a degree of insulation from unexpected market events, while also potentially generating returns in excess of cash or even delivering a recurring income stream," continued Mr. Warnes. "A multi-asset portfolio comprises a mix of equities and bonds and a diversified exposure to a range of markets. We currently favor equities over bonds and within Asia we prefer North Asian markets such as Mainland China and Korea over their ASEAN peers. However, an efficiently managed multi-asset solution can quickly shift asset class or geographical exposure should market conditions change".

For more information on the Manulife Investor Sentiment Index in Asia, please visit www.manulife-asia.com.

Image

Investor sentiment across Asia, US, Canada

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/2481

Expected top performing asset classes and investment intentions in next 6 months

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/2483

Company Logo

http://release.media-outreach.com/i/Download/2480

*About Manulife Investor Sentiment Index in Asia
Manulife’s Investor Sentiment Index in Asia is a quarterly, proprietary survey measuring and tracking investors’ views across eight markets in the region on their attitudes towards key asset classes and related issues. The Index is calculated as a net score (% of “Very good time” and “Good time” minus % of “Bad time” and “Very bad time”) for each asset class. The overall index is calculated as an average of the index figures of asset classes. A positive number means a positive sentiment, zero means a neutral sentiment, and a negative number means negative sentiment.

The Manulife ISI is based on 500 online interviews in each market of Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore; in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines it is conducted face-to-face. Respondents are middle class to affluent investors, aged 25 years and above who are the primary decision maker of financial matters in the household and currently have investment products.

The Manulife ISI is a long-established research series in North America. The Manulife ISI has been measuring investor sentiment in Canada for the past 15 years, and extended this to its John Hancock operation in the U.S. in 2011. Asset classes taken into Manulife ISI Asia calculations are stocks/equities, real estate (primary residence and other investment properties), mutual funds/unit trusts, fixed income investment and cash.

This material, intended for the exclusive use by the recipients who are allowable to receive this document under the applicable laws and regulations of the relevant jurisdictions, was produced by and the opinions expressed are those of Manulife Asset Management as of January 2015 and are subject to change based on market and other conditions. The information and/or analysis contained in this material have been compiled or arrived at from sources believed to be reliable but Manulife Asset Management does not make any representation as to their accuracy, correctness, usefulness or completeness and does not accept liability for any loss arising from the use hereof or the information and/or analysis contained herein. The information in this document, including statements concerning financial market trends, are based on current market conditions, which will fluctuate and may be superseded by subsequent market events or for other reasons. Manulife Asset Management disclaims any responsibility to update such information. Neither Manulife Asset Management or its affiliates, nor any of their directors, officers or employees shall assume any liability or responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage or any other consequence of any person acting or not acting in reliance on the information contained herein. All overviews and commentary are intended to be general in nature and for current interest. While helpful, these overviews are no substitute for professional tax, investment or legal advice. Clients should seek professional advice for their particular situation. Neither Manulife Financial, Manulife Asset Management™, nor any of their affiliates or representatives is providing tax, investment or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This material was prepared solely for informational purposes, does not constitute an offer or an invitation by or on behalf of Manulife Asset Management to any person to buy or sell any security and is no indication of trading intent in any fund or account managed by Manulife Asset Management. No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risk in any market environment. Unless otherwise specified, all data is sourced from Manulife Asset Management.

Issued in Hong Kong by Manulife and Manulife Asset Management.

About Manulife
Manulife is a leading Canada-based financial services group with principal operations in Asia, Canada and the United States. Clients look to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We also provide asset management services to institutional customers. Funds under management by Manulife and its subsidiaries were approximately C$637 billion (US$597 billion) as at June 30, 2014. Our group of companies operates as Manulife in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at manulife.com.

About Manulife Asset Management
Manulife Asset Management is the global asset management arm of Manulife, providing comprehensive asset management solutions for institutional investors and investment funds in key markets around the world. This investment expertise extends across a broad range of public and private asset classes, as well as asset allocation solutions. As at 30 September 2014, assets under management for Manulife Asset Management were approximately US$276 billion.

Manulife Asset Management’s public markets units have investment expertise across a broad range of asset classes including public equity and fixed income, and asset allocation strategies. Offices with full investment capabilities are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, Manulife Asset Management has a joint venture asset management business in China, Manulife TEDA. The public markets units of Manulife Asset Management also provide investment management services to affiliates' retail clients through product offerings of Manulife and John Hancock. John Hancock Asset Management and Declaration Management and Research are units of Manulife Asset Management. Additional information about Manulife Asset Management may be found at ManulifeAM.com.

NUS vs NTU vs SMU – Which university’s business degree fresh graduate earns more?

Among NUS, NTU and SMU, which university's business graduates get paid more fresh out of school?


According to the Graduate Employment Survey results published by the Ministry of Education:

NUS Business School - Business Administration 

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA):
Overall employment: 88.7%
Monthly Gross (mean): $3,000
25th percentile: $2,700
75th percentile: $3,370

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Honours:
Overall employment: 94.6%
Monthly Gross (mean): $3,512
25th percentile: $2,800
75th percentile: $3,800

Asia Investor Sentiment Buoyed by Equities and Mutual Funds

Asia Investor Sentiment Buoyed by Equities and Mutual Funds -- Manulife Survey

• Rising optimism seen in Malaysia, Indonesia and China
• Hong Kong and Taiwan sentiment also improves, but still in negative territory
• Drivers include China stimulus, Indonesia election fever, pre-tax consumption in Malaysia
• Family, friends and colleagues the main influence on investor decisions

Investor sentiment across Asia rose in the first quarter of 2014, buoyed by equities and mutual funds, along with a rise in optimism among investors in Malaysia, Indonesia and China, according to new research from Manulife.

The Manulife Investor Sentiment Index* for the region rose from the fourth quarter of 2013 (+2 to 24), driven mostly by sharply higher sentiment towards equities (+7 to 16) and mutual funds (+13 to 21). The improved sentiment in these sectors offset modest declines in attitudes towards property.

The higher sentiment was driven upward mostly by China, Indonesia and a surge in investment optimism in Malaysia. In Malaysia, investor sentiment rose on stronger economic growth and the belief that market conditions are improving. Investors there share the top spot with the Philippines as the region's most positive.

Investors in Hong Kong and Taiwan remained negative -- but there was an improvement on the previous quarter, with Hong Kong at -11 (+2) and Taiwan at -6 (+5). In only three markets did sentiment fall: Japan, the Philippines and Singapore, albeit in each case remaining positive.

Is money the main motivator for Singapore's talent?

What is the main motivator for Singapore's top talent?

According to a survey by Morgan McKinley, a global professional services recruiter connecting specialist talent with leading employers across multiple industries and disciplines, MONEY IS NOT THE MAIN MOTIVATOR FOR SINGAPORE’S TOP TALENT.

So what must Singapore businesses do to retain top talent?

It said that Singapore businesses need to consider more than boosting basic salary levels if they want to keep their top talent.

So what are Singapore job seekers motivated by?

Morgan McKinley’s latest Singapore job seeker survey shows that professional job seekers are motivated more by opportunities for career progression than by money – nearly two thirds cited lack of career progression as their main reason for leaving a job

What proportion of job seeker leave solely based on dissatisfaction with basic salary?

Only 12% surveyed were motivated to leave solely based on dissatisfaction with their basic salary.

How much salary hike does it take for an employee to job hop or jump ship?

Break the 12 worst money habits

A recent Business Insider article talks about the below 12 worst money habits:

1) Buying lunch... and coffee and snacks everyday
2) Neglecting to get the best rate
3) Not prioritising high-interest debt
4) Neglecting to take advantage of a 401(k) match (while US-relevant, it can be applied to things like the CDA account match in Singapore)
5) Carrying a credit card balance
6) Paying a premium for your vacation
7) Saving your savings goals for last
8) Overpaying on entertainment
9) Setting and forgetting about your savings
10) Dining out to the detriment of your budget
11) Paying the price for last-minute holiday purchases
12) Forgetting about gift cards

For how much you can save and how to break them,

How to spot overseas property scams?

How to spot overseas property scams?

Yahoo carried an item guest contributed by Mr Getty Goh, "the co-founder of CoAssets, a spinoff company from Ascendant Assets Pte Ltd, and Singapore and South East Asia’s first real estate bulk purchase and crowd funding site". 

Read it at: http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/spot-overseas-property-scams-131730522.html

Recently, a mainstream newspaper wrote about how some dodgy foreign property investment schemes were recently sold in Singapore. Being a co-founder of CoAssets, Singapore and South East Asia’s first real estate bulk purchase and crowdsourcing portal, I have come across my fair share of dodgy investments. Hence, I thought it would be useful for me to share some of the tools I use to help me discern whether a deal is genuine or a scam.

Looking through the news article, the deal was eerily similar to something that I came across just a few weeks ago. Some of the similarities are (1) the project is located south of Batam and (2) more than 1,300 units were sold for $70 million.

The business model of CoAssets has been likened to that of SouFun, a Chinese listed company that provides targeted ad solutions for property developers by aggregating demand (i.e. bulk purchase). Hence, we were approached to get aggregate bulk buyers for this Indonesian project. After careful consideration, we turned the collaboration down and we found two key red flags that made us cautious.

Red Flag #1: The numbers did not add up

One of the main things that made my team wary was that the projected numbers did not add up. In another news article, it was reported that the developer was planning to sell 900 units at US$90,000 (about S$117,000). There were different units and the smallest unit was about 60 square meters (about 646 square feet). Of the 900 units, 200 were already sold at a special pre-launch price of about US$30,000 (about S$39,000), which meant that a deep discount of about 66% had been given to the group of early buyers.

Developers are after all in the business of making money through the selling of properties; hence the question we wanted to answer was whether a discount of 66% was reasonable.

When it comes to development, one key component is construction cost. To find out how much it costs to build a residential property in Indonesia, construction cost estimates for 2013Q3 from Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), an internationally renowned quantity-surveying firm, were used.

Based on the report, the estimated construction cost for Jakarta was between RP6,161,000 per sq m (about S$62.36psf) and RP9,839,000 (about S$99.62psf). Due to the lack of more precise data for the Batam region, construction cost for Jakarta was used as an indication. Based on the estimated cost, purely for construction, it would cost between S$40,000 and S$64,000 to build the smallest 60 square meter villa. Hence, at the special price of US$30,000, the developer may not be breaking even.

Compounding to the risk, the number of people who received the special 66% discount was also unclear. The project could still be viable if the developer gave the special 66% discount to just a handful of close business associates. However, if it gave it to all 200 buyers, the total amount collected would unlikely be enough to cover the construction cost for the 200 units.

Red Flag #2: The developer did not seem to have the financial strength

Developments are generally hefty financial undertakings and many developers do it with some form of construction loans from banks. While developers may not reveal the true financial situation to the retail property buyers, they will have to show their financial reports to banks in order to secure construction loans. Hence, developers that can secure bank financing at the construction stage tend to be in a good financial position and are more secure. Conversely, developers who do not have some form of bank financing during the construction stage are not viewed to be as attractive.

The 900 units in the Batam development falls under the latter category. That is not to say that all projects that do not have bank financing during the construction stage are doomed to fail. However, for this specific case, the amount needed to build all 900 hundred units is at least S$36 million (assuming all 900 units are 60 square meter units that cost S$40,000 each to construct). When we did an ACRA check on the Singapore company, we found that the company had only a paid up capital of S$300,000 and the key appointment holders of the company stayed in public flats.

What is your financial recourse?