It is true that with the new government policies of buyer’s stamp duty and special stamp duty, the property market certainly should seem less attractive to you. Indeed we count nine (9!!) separate taxes now affecting real estate in HK. That being said, there are still available strategies to acquire HK real estate without paying any stamp duty or ‘special tax’!
In all situations, the best advice for individual’s investment alternatives is to find an excellent investment professional that can review your entire asset portfolio and suggest a balanced approach to asset allocation: a thoughtful approach to the famous asset “pie chart”. Note as well that this “investment professional” may be not only traditional private bankers or investment advisors; some of your best advice can come from lawyers and trustees.
However, to answer your investment question, let us give you a summary of one of the more interesting investments we have seen recently : a mix of higher interest rate return with a call away on the spot price of gold.
Let’s assume you wouldn’t mind owning gold which currently trades in or around USD1,375 to 1,400 per ounce. You can agree to the following:
- Deposit say USD100,000 at a fixed annual interest rate of 24% per annum with a deposit period of say 1 month; impossible to get such a high interest yield you say, not so: the reason you are given such a high interest rate is because you agree that should gold drop to or below 1300 at the expiry of the month, then you will be forced to buy gold at that lower price (i.e. 1300 or below).
If you don’t mind owning gold, then this could be an interesting strategy to gain high yields until gold takes its predicted fall.
Asia Pacific Investment Advisors Limited
Email:
corporate-finance@apg-hk.com