South Korea’s equity markets are back in the spotlight. With the Kospi up more than 40% year-to-date and over $11 billion in net foreign inflows since May alone, investors are starting to believe the unthinkable: the long-maligned Korea discount might finally be closing.
The Indian IT sector, long considered one of the country’s most stable growth engines, just got a stark wake-up call. A newly announced $100,000 application fee on H-1B visas by the Trump administration has rattled markets and raised urgent questions about the future of cross-border tech talent flows.
In the global race for AI dominance, its no longer just venture capitalists and tech giants setting the pace. Across the Asia-Pacific region, sovereign funds and government-led capital programs are taking centre stage – not merely investing in AI, but actively shaping its future.
In the increasingly complex world of institutional investing, capital efficiency, risk asymmetry, and speed of execution have become defining performance differentiators.
In today’s high-speed, high-stakes financial environment, seamless, multi-asset execution across time zones is critical for investors. However, while many firms claim a “global reach,” few deliver true global market coverage with the precision, infrastructure, and regional expertise required, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the 1800s, tens of thousands rushed to California, dreaming of gold, but few struck it rich. However, one group thrived regardless: those selling picks, shovels, and supplies to the miners. Levi Strauss built a denim empire, hardware stores flourished, and transport and banking services boomed.
The way global investors view the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has changed dramatically over the past seven decades. What began as a fragile, war-torn frontier has become a diverse ecosystem of opportunity and risk, shaping global capital flows and challenging long-held assumptions about growth.
Across APAC, the hottest trades of 2025 have a common theme: AI, EVs, and semiconductors. From Taiwans chip giants to South Koreas battery leaders and Japans robotics innovators, investors are pouring in, driven not just by earnings reports, but by fear of missing out (FOMO).
Across Asia-Pacific, settlement cycles are accelerating in ways that could redefine how markets function. While most regional markets remain on T+2, India has already transitioned to T+1, and China’s cash markets operate at T+0 or T+1, giving it one of the most advanced settlement infrastructures globally.
For centuries, arbitrage has been one of finance’s most celebrated – and often misunderstood – practices. From the early days of cross-border commodity trading to the lightning-fast algorithms of todays high-frequency desks, it has been hailed as a force for market efficiency: exploiting price discrepancies to bring markets back into alignment.
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