Retail Savings & Investments in Singapore: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sector Impact

Retail Savings & Investments in Singapore: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sector Impact

Summary

The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, dubbed COVID-19, is first and foremost a human tragedy, affecting millions of people globally. The contagious Coronavirus, which broke out at the close of 2019, has led to a medical emergency across the world, with the World Health Organization officially declaring the novel Coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Fears surrounding the impact of COVID-19 have already significantly impacted the global economy, with key markets across the globe losing 20-50% of their value year-to-date. Many economists and institutions have cut their forecasts, with consensus global GDP growth currently at 2.6% for 2020 and many experts predicting the potential onset of recessionary environments.

The ongoing pandemic has affected Singapore’s economy resulting in a slowdown in exports, disruptions in global supply chains, a fall in tourism, and a fall in the domestic consumption of goods and services. The country’s GDP has been revised downward for 2020 due to the economic disruption caused by Coronavirus. There has been a sharp rise in the cancelation of flights, hotel bookings, and major upcoming events in the areas of music, entertainment, theater performances, art festivals, and sports.

This report focuses on the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on the Singaporean economy and the country’s retail savings and investment market. It also highlights the measures adopted by the government to combat COVID-19. Based on our proprietary datasets, the snap shot contrasts GlobalData’s pre-COVID-19 forecasts and revised forecasts of total retail bond, deposits, equities and mutual funds holdings in terms of value and growth rates. It also analyses the effects on HNW wealth, examining the importance of different industries as a contributor to HNW wealth.

Scope

- Singaporean retail savings and investments are forecast to contract by 0.1% over the course of 2020 as the economy has come to a standstill thanks to the impacts of COVID-19. Retail equity and mutual fund holdings are expected to take the brunt of the economy’s slowdown, with respective declines of 22.4% and 17.3% anticipated.
- Retail deposits holdings, on the other hand, are set to fare better than initially expected courtesy of a flight to safety away from risk assets as well as a move away from cash holdings. However, more pronounced declines in risk assets holdings are expected to result in a total retail holdings forecast in 2020 that is 3.9 percentage points (pp) lower than initially forecast before the onset of COVID-19.
- The effects on the different segments that make up the high-net-worth (HNW) market will be disproportionate. The financial services sector, which is the largest contributor to Singaporean HNW wealth, is taking a significant hit as the number of bad loans is expected to rise significantly.
- The healthcare sector - the second largest contributor to HNW wealth - is being less severely impacted, with the iEdge SG All Healthcare Index, which measures the performance of the listed healthcare segment in Singapore, up 2.4% year-to-date, compared to the Straits Times Index’s 21% loss.

Reasons to Buy

- Make strategic decisions using top-level revised forecast data on the Singaporean retail savings and investments industry.
- Understand the key market trends, challenges, and opportunities in the Singaporean retail savings and investments industry.
- Receive a comprehensive insight into the retail liquid asset holdings in Singapore, including deposits, mutual funds, equities, and bonds.