Under The Radar

We’re going to speak to global food corporation Cargill today. And in case you’re wondering - we are not going to talk about commodities.  But instead we’re going to talk about their ocean transportation unit, with the company being one of the world’s biggest ship charterers.  The company is seeing several developments relating to its cargo shipping business of late. It has signed a longer-term ch...

Today we’re going to take a look at something that is close to our heart - ageing and eldercare. According to a UN report, there were 703 million persons aged 65 years or over in the world in 2019, and that number is projected to double to 1.5 billion in 2050.  And as the world population ages, one of the most urgent needs for families is caregiving , with demand outstripping the pool of qualified...

We’re going to talk all about housing - and in particular about co-living solutions on the segment today.  According to a quarterly survey by the University of Singapore Real Estate, which was released just a couple of weeks ago, industry players expect the co-living market to continue growing with skyrocketing housing costs and growing inflationary pressure. The results also follow a strong year...

Specialty foam, film and elastomer or elastic polymers used as insulators in electronics, cars and more.  It may very well be under the radar, but hey, did you know that the global market for elastomeric foam is set to reach US$4.462 billion by the end of 2027, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights? That’s a compound annual growth rate of 6.8% during the forecast period of 2020 to 202...

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘prepare for a rainy day’? How about insurance? In fact, we’re going to deep dive into the insurance sector today with Singlife, also formerly known as Singlife with Aviva. The company, which is backed by TPG and Japanese insurer Sumitomo Life Insurance, has been on an expansion drive since it obtained its licence in Singapore five years ago.  In particu...

Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. That’s right - we’re going to talk all about fashion today with Tapestry - the parent company behind the three brands I mentioned earlier.  The company recently released its fiscal 2023 second quarter financial results, where it raised its profit outlook for the full year.  Tapestry also added about 2.6 million customers in North America in the quarter - near...

Whole-cut meat products, printed on-demand for you. Sounds like the magical replicator from Star Trek? Well did you know that this is becoming a reality these days? In fact, an Israel-based biotech company called Steakholder Foods is combining stem cell technologies and 3D printing to create meals on demand.  The company also developed a process that has achieved 50 times more growth in cell produ...

Batteries are on the table today, and no - we are not talking about your AAA batteries here.  Rather, we’re going to talk about lithium iron phosphate batteries that can be used to power electric vehicles, as well as battery packs and grids that can be used to power factories, data centres and communities. On that note, a Michigan startup called Our Next Energy is aiming to double the range of ele...

We’ll talk all about semiconductors manufacturers as the industry continues to face a number of headwinds including a pandemic induced supply shortage.  According to Auto Forecast Solutions, almost 18 million vehicles will have been removed from production plans by the end of 2023 since the chip shortage started. And with US-China’s geopolitical tensions at the top of minds of industry players, ho...

Are you afraid of having your blood drawn? But what if the blood test could detect cancer causing genetic mutations and viruses, and allow for early treatment?   I’m asking this because we are going to look at a company called Lucence, which makes blood tests to detect cancers.  Founded in 2016, Lucence was spun off from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).  It had in 2019 unv...

Chat GPT, Generative AI and the money behind them! That’s what we’re going to talk about on the segment today. Our guest for today is from Microsoft, which has invested over US$10 billion in ChatGPT maker Open AI.  The company also launched earlier this month new versions of its Bing internet search engine and Edge browser powered by the newest technology from OpenAI.  At the launch, Microsoft had...

Ever wondered which are the companies who give startups their first investment cheque? Well, our guest for today Quest Ventures is one such company.  The Venture Capital firm, which was founded in 2011, is a leading venture capital firm in areas such as artificial intelligence, e-commerce and marketplaces, entertainment, finance and even food. It’s also invested in a number of well-known companies...

Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL is a term that has become increasingly popular in recent years. But ever wondered what the phenomenon means for credit data companies and credit bureaus?  Well that’s what we’re going to talk about in this segment with the world’s largest credit data company Experian, which was also appointed to operate Singapore’s buy now, pay later bureau by the Singapore FinTech Associ...

If you recall, we spent quite some time talking about startups and unicorns over the past week. Today, we’re going to look at how a financial institution specialising in SPACs and deal advisory help blank cheque companies access a quality deal pipeline. Speaking of SPAC IPOs, the market for special purpose acquisition companies has slowed quite a bit over the past few months. According to S&P...

We’re going to wrap up the week talking about the automotive marketplace landscape here in Southeast Asia and in particular, we want to talk about Southeast Asia’s largest online car retailer Carro.  The firm had achieved its unicorn status in June 2021 after a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and continued to see stellar growth thereafter. According to technode global, the firm achiev...

Have you ever tried picking up a foreign language? And if so, are you still using it? According to a report by TechRepublic, citing data from FlexJobs, there were over 1,700 bilingual remote jobs listed as at early 2021, which is a 30% increase from the figure in February 2020. And it seems like job demand for bilingual speakers is on the rise as the world becomes increasingly globalised.  Questio...

Stamps, parcels and postage fees - that’s right - we are putting the spotlight on the postal and parcel industry today.  In particular, we’re going to be looking at Singapore Post, which has seen a number of developments of late. The company is raising postage rates for postage, package delivery and doorstep parcel delivery this year as a result of the Goods and Services Tax hike as well as other...

Ever wondered who are the ones keeping our work desks clean and tidy when we return to work on a Monday morning? Well, today we’re going to look at how facility management companies position themselves in a market that is set to reach around US$121 billion globally by 2030.  This is also an exciting time for the industry, as it tries to convince clients on the need to automate and reduce reliance...

The online brokerage industry is at the heart of our discussion today.  The pandemic-induced retail trading frenzy has led to a boom in new online brokers in Singapore as more people put their dollars to work on digital platforms.  But with the country now back to Dorscon green, how would companies position themselves for the future? We’re going to speak with online trading platform moomoo to find...

On that note, did you know that Singapore was the first country to approve the sale of cell-based meat in 2020, with the product coming from Good Meat? In fact, the world’s first commercial cultured meat production facility also started here in Singapore in 2021 when a local contract development and manufacturing organisation, Esco Aster, was given approval to produce the novel food.  The company...

Supply chain snarls and high inflation have weighed on economies around the world for much of the past year, especially with China sticking to its strict zero-COVID strategy.  But how have things changed as China reopens for business in 2023 and the country puts the Lunar New Year holiday behind it? What are the key trends within the logistics and supply chain industry and how are players grapplin...

We’ll give you an inside look into a Swiss private bank founded in not 1996, but 1796!    With 358 billion Swiss Francs worth of total client assets, we’ll find out how Lombard Odier positions itself amid changing demands from private clients such as high net worth individuals.  Apparently private clients are getting increasingly worried about market volatility and the negative impact on portfolio...

Coffee is on the agenda for us today, with Starbucks Corporation set to unveil its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 today.  According to Yahoo Finance, analysts are expecting an 8.6% on-year improvement in revenue, amid accelerating same store sales and unit growth, as well as a margin explosion.  Aside from the sales figures, it is also an exciting time for Starbucks in the US, w...

In our first episode of Under The Radar, we talk about REIT managers and what’s next as they put their FY 2022 earnings behind them. Our guest for today is from OUE Commercial Reit, which has a property portfolio  comprising approximately 2.2 million square feet of prime office and retail space, and 1,643 upper upscale hotel rooms in Singapore and Shanghai. The real estate investment trust company...