Pilipinas: Notes by a Brit Business Analyst

If only I could spend a day discussing matters and issues with this gentleman, I might have gotten some more tips on investing, business and probably the election results for 2016!

Here are just some snippets from his observations, and thoughts on the Philippines' outlook:

1. 'Oh, I have been reading about the Philippines especially Manila for the last few weeks. My company has been looking at the Philippines for a while now, since it is one of the best emerging markets at the moment.'
2. 'We are currently looking to buy at Ayala company. Not the Land, but the corporation. There are some small companies in the corporation that we're not interested in. We're more focused on the real estate and the power provider. We think that'll be really needed in Manila.'
3. 'Manila will be in trouble in the next 3-5 years due to high supply of infrastructure. Everyone is building everything. Outside Manila, everything else gets cheaper. It will be hard to make money in Manila. Decongestion is key. Unless you buy a high-end property in Makati, it will be really tough to beat the competition in Manila.'
4. 'Remittances will always keep the Philippines afloat.'
5. 'Apparently the average age of the Philippine population is 23 years old.' [I checked this, and it is true. I didn't even know myself, shame. Source here. - manikreigun]
6. 'The Megaworld company, is bad. They're just building office spaces. The supply is too high, it won't have a pleasant effect in a few years time from now.'
7. 'I don't think BPOs can sustain growth in the Philippines like they did in the last 10 years.'
8. 'The Ayala residences and their projects, like Nuvali, they don't just build houses. They build parks and playgrounds. That's one of the reasons why we like the company.'
9. 'I know there are 3 strong candidates: Roxas, Poe and Binay. Poe is popular because of her father, Roxas is quite good in political skills, but Binay will win. Binay though, is corrupt, but he can still win. People think he is a doer of things, whether for good or bad.'
10. 'The Filipinos need (proper) infrastructure. If there is none, it will be a vicious cycle.'
11. 'The good thing about the Philippine economy at the moment is it is steady. The bad thing about it, is that it is steady. Investors would look for somewhere where the economy is down and prices are cheap so they can take advantage.'
12. 'A month ago I have met with Mr. Jaime Zobel de Ayala. A very smooth guy.'

Well, I might set a meeting with Mr. Jaime soon to try and find out myself.

*On a side note, I asked him to 'google' Duterte.