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Source:
www.mas.gov.sg |
Opening Remarks By Mr Heng Swee
Keat, Managing Director, at MAS' Annual Report 2004/2005 Press
Conference, 22 July 2005 - An Excerpt |
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Strong Performance In The Financial
Services Sector |
"Financial services continue to grow in
scale and sophistication. The overall growth rate came in at 6% in 2004,
and the expansion was fairly broad-based across most key segments of
financial services. In particular, the asset management market and
corporate debt market showed good performance. |
"The sector also provided an important
source of employment growth. Over 6,000 jobs were created in the
financial sector last year. The sector enjoyed the highest average pay
in the economy, exceeding S$5,500. |
"I shall now touch on a few areas where
growth has been commendable, starting with the asset management
industry. |
Assets Under Management Surged 23% |
"Asset management grew strongly. MAS' asset
management survey in 2004 indicated that total assets under management (AUM)
expanded by 23% year-on-year to over S$570 billion. |
"Singapore continues to play the role of an
international fund management centre, with 70% of total assets under
management (AUM) being sourced from overseas. The Asia-Pacific countries
remain the main source of funds but in the past few years, new
high-growth markets such as the Middle East and South Asia have emerged. |
Number Of Investment Professionals Rose
By More Than 15% |
"Asset management companies in Singapore
have returned to hiring, adding 149 investment professionals in 2004.
This is different from the drop we saw in 2002 and 2003. |
"Going forward, prospects for asset
management are bright. Good economic growth in Asia has attracted global
investors to allocate more investments to Asia, to ride on this growth
and to provide diversification. |
"Within Asia, wealth creation, increasing
affluence and investor sophistication will generate strong demand for
the full range of asset management services... |
Other Areas Of Growth |
"In the treasury market, Singapore
maintained its ranking as the fourth largest forex centre in the world,
according to the 2004 BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign
Exchange (FX) and Derivatives Activity. |
"OTC derivatives turnover also tripled to
US$17 billion in 2004. Singapore is now the 12th largest OTC derivatives
centre globally, strengthening its position as the second largest centre
in Asia. |
"We are also seeing a healthy growth of
capital market activities, particularly as companies in Asia continue to
expand domestically and abroad. The joint market capitalisation of the
Mainboard and SESDAQ rose 16% to S$452 billion in 2004, propelled by the
rise in equity prices and the growing number of listed companies. |
"As at end 2004, we have 625 companies
listed on the Singapore Exchange, up from 551 companies in 2003. We
continue to see a steady pipeline of foreign companies seeking listing
in Singapore. The market for real estate investment trusts (REITS) has
grown steadily in Singapore. We are now the largest REIT market in Asia
(ex-Japan)..." |
Full Text of Speech |
Source:
www.mas.gov.sg News Room 22 Jul 2005 |
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