The rapidly changing Covid-19 pandemic situation has caused market volatility and recession fears, with a lack of earnings clarity adding uncertainty to Asian markets. Ms Carmen Lee, Head of OCBC Investment Research, highlights how fiscal policy and stimulus from key countries are expected to provide some comfort in Q2 2020. This podcast was recorded on - 23/03/2020

Many in their 30s and 40s struggle with retirement planning, but if you want to retire on $3,000 a month for 20 years, you would need to accumulate at least $1.3 million. It may sound daunting, but don't be afraid. Our Head of Wealth Management Singapore, Tan Siew Lee, has quick tips to help you get started on your plans.

We expect that reducing the slope of the SGD NEER to a zero appreciation path will be an easy decision to make. Whether to lower the policy band, however, is less obvious and we prefer to watch the SGD NEER for cues. On balance, if the SGD NEER is higher than -1.00% below parity going into the scheduled March MPS, the lowering of the policy band may have little additional impact on the economy. On the flip side, if the SGD NEER softens further from now till 30 March, the likelihood of a lowering of the policy band will be correspondingly increased.

Singapore saw its first negative core inflation print in a decade in February 2020. A further downgrade of the official 2020 GDP growth forecast and the headline and core inflation forecasts are imminent and this will pave the way for coordinated fiscal and monetary policy easing sooner rather than later. Watch for the advance 1Q20 growth estimate on 26 March and MAS monetary policy statement on 30 March.

In this week’s Covid-19 update, our Head of Greater China Research Tommy Xie looks at the progress scientists are making in fighting the novel coronavirus on two frontlines, including treatment and vaccine.

Even though concerns about Rupiah volatility is never far off its radar, Bank Indonesia has decided that the need to support growth amidst mounting challenges is paramount - for now.

We lowered our issuer profile on SIA for a second time in two weeks on the back of the swift deterioration in industry conditions and expectation of a stretched liquidity situation going into the next quarter.

Gold has gotten sold off in the last two weeks, largely on liquidity fears. That doesn’t mean it has lost its status as a safe haven asset. Rather, it shows how severe fears of a liquidity crunch is as Covid-19 continues to distort global markets. (18 March 2020)

As corporate credit stress comes into focus, do we avoid SGD corporate bonds altogether? In this turbulent time for the economy and financial markets, we centre our focus on the high grade parts of the SGD bond market. Rather than wait for an absolute bottom, we search for high quality issuers and start positioning for that.