PH property sector remains undervalued, says Sy-Coson

Despite the boom in recent years, the Philippine property sector is still “undervalued” except for certain pockets of areas which are already “overdeveloped,” according to the SM group’s Teresita Sy-Coson.

Speaking at the 14th Forbes Global CEO (chief executive officer) Conference in Singapore last week, the chair of the country’s largest bank Banco de Oro Unibank and vice chair of conglomerate SM Investments also said Philippines stocks were “not overvalued,” if the country’s economic growth would be factored in.

She said that in the last five years under President Aquino, the Philippines’ gross domestic product had been growing beyond the 5-percent growth rate in previous years.

“We have had a remarkable improvement in governance. Our population is young with a huge earning capacity and a large overseas Filipino working base that consistently send remittances to their families. This helps our economy,” she said.

As such, she said that it was a great time now for investors to look at the Philippines.

“The Philippines is unique and it needs to be looked at with a long-term view, longer than a two-to three-year window. Given that we are a strong service-oriented economy, the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry is a natural fit,” she said.

“As a domestic investor, I am very optimistic. There is a lot of liquidity for our size in the Philippines. If you look back at the country’s economic history, we have had steady growth,” she said.

For foreign investors, she said opportunities were always present, noting that local investors were usually not fast enough to react to new technologies. This is where foreign investors could come in, she said, adding that growth would come from game-changing technologies particularly in the energy, I.T. and robotics sectors.

Hence, she said investors who were into innovative technologies would find a lot of opportunities in the Philippines.

Forbes Magazine publisher Rich Karlgaard moderated the panel discussion on “Profit for Tomorrow’s Growth” and dissected the various innovative and opportunistic investments and wealth strategies while also asking about the effects of technology and geopolitical tensions in Asia.

Other Filipinos who attended the Forbes Global CEO Conference were Enrique Razon Jr. (International Container Terminal Services Inc. and Bloomberry Resorts Corp.), Manuel Villar Jr. (Starmalls Inc. and Vista Land & Lifescapes), Josephine Gotianun-Yap (Filinvest Development Corp.) and the Antonio family of Century Properties Group.