While green finance was a buzzword in the last few years, the attention has partly moved to transition finance this year.

What is transition finance?

Deal activity dropped off in Southeast Asia for in the first quarter of 2024, down 46% to US$1.4 billion (RM6.6 billion) from US$2.7 billion in 4Q2023. At US$1.4 billion, the region’s deal value was back at the same level as 1Q2023, according to Bain & Co’s Southeast Asia Private Equity (PE) Report 2024.

Challenging year for private equity in Southeast Asia

Every year, Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy and estate agency headquartered in London, publishes the Wealth Report, which focuses on the global property markets. It also looks at alternative investments and how they perform each year and over the past decade.

Investment performance of alternative asset classes

Fewer babies have been born per woman in most parts of the world in the last seven decades. From as many as five births per woman in the early 1950s and four births per woman in the mid-1970s, the global average fertility rate had plunged to 2.3 births in 2021 and is projected to slip further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050 – the rate at which a population exactly replaces itself.

Who’s (not) having babies

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim launched the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) on May 7. However, NACS itself was overshadowed by the chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Tan Sri Azam Baki’s statement that the country lost RM277 billion due to graft from 2018 to 2023.

The state of corruption in Malaysia

Hybrid working arrangements are increasingly becoming a distant memory. However, that doesn’t mean employees will accept this change without resistance.