Singapore, 10 June 2021 – UBS will be holding its 9th flagship OneASEAN Conference in Singapore from 15 to 21 June, bringing together 500 leading institutional investors, corporate leaders and regulators to discuss about this year’s theme of “Heating up to recovery”. ASEAN remains a bright spot in global investment portfolios, with Singapore equities among the most preferred.

Yeoh Choo Guan, Head of ASEAN Global Markets, UBS said: “Although the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted economies, ASEAN economies continue to provide investment opportunities. UBS has been in ASEAN for over 50 years. This year’s flagship ASEAN conference continues to grow in size, attracting over 500 institutional investors searching for growth and recovery plays. In addition, deal flows in capital markets have been active despite the pandemic as ASEAN can provide cyclical tailwind into next year for investors. I am proud to launch our virtual flagship OneAsean investment conference here in Singapore.”

Ian Douglas-Pennant, Head of Research, ASEAN at UBS added: “Within ASEAN equities, we are overweight Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia. We remain risk-on in the region with a continued preference for sectors that should benefit from regional reopening, global reflation and US stimulus – for example, capital goods, construction materials, and transportation. We maintain an overweight stance on Singapore equities as we expect Singapore to benefit both from a pick-up in exports as global lockdowns ease, but also domestically with a lot of potential for lockdowns to ease further.”

Edward Teather, Senior ASEAN economist, UBS said: “We believe that the ongoing positive news flow on vaccines and the implications for longer term prospects will likely provide support to investor, business and consumer confidence in ASEAN. Mass vaccination campaigns are in the process of stepping up across ASEAN, with Singapore leading the vaccine race in the region. The virus continues to be a headwind for near term growth but external demand is providing an offset. Partly because of their greater exposure to global trade, real GDP surprised on the upside across most of Asia's open economies in Q1 including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Looking ahead, our forecast for better economic outcomes into 2022 remains on track. Greatly improved vaccine availability should allow reduced restrictions on economic activity while the lagged effects of stimulus programs and buoyant exports support the means for domestic spending to recover.” 

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