A report, based on a comprehensive study of 16 cities in developed and emerging markets across Asia, examines nearly 60 criteria to determine the best locations in Asia for finance sector occupiers.

«Based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of socio-economic, property and human factors, Colliers International believes the three top locations in Asia for financial occupiers are Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore,» Andrew Haskins, Colliers’ Asia Head of Research, said.

At #4, Shanghai is benefiting the most among Chinese cities from the country’s financial liberalisation, while Seoul at #5 is a wild card finance location with strong scores.

Top Locations for Finance Firms

These are findings from a survey released by Colliers International, a global provider in commercial real estate services. The report, based on a comprehensive study of 16 cities in developed and emerging markets across Asia, examines nearly 60 criteria across a spectrum of socio-economic, property and human factors to determine the best locations in Asia for Finance sector occupiers.

Hong Kong (Score: 61 percent; Position: #1) scores highly on socio-economic factors, including employment criteria such as political stability, ease of doing business and regulatory governance, and wealth factors such as stock market value, city inward FDI and position in cross-border banking.

Under property factors, high wages and rents push up employer costs, but total office stock is high and there is a wide gap in rents between the CBD and other areas. Hong Kong is #2 in Asia on human factors, due partly to a low tax rate and high quality of living.

Tokyo (Score: 60 percent; Position: #2) comes in second place since it scores highest overall on socio-economic factors, reflecting its huge size, high wealth and stability as a global financial hub.

The city’s high socio-economic score is partly offset by its low property score – reflecting high staff costs, rents and a conservative office facility offering. However, Tokyo scores well on human factors, due largely to its high quality of living, safety, climate and lack of pollution.

Singapore (Score: 55 percent; Position: #3) scores very highly on socio-economic factors, especially employment criteria, due to high political stability, the ease of doing business, high-quality infrastructure and strong regulatory governance. It lacks the banking scale of Tokyo or Hong Kong but is a key wealth management centre.

The City-state only has a modest score on property factors, due largely to its limited stock of prime grade office space. However, Singapore comes top on human factors such as personal tax, safety, living quality, climate and pollution, and the high-tech city metric included in our scoring.

Alternative Finance Location

Shanghai (Score: 54 percent; Position: #4) is China’s financial capital. It scores well on measures of economic scale and wealth, with GDP/capita 139 percent of the national average and an equity market value of about $4.2 trillion. Shanghai also scores highly on property factors, notably on quality of office stock, and on intra-city connectivity.

It has two key financial zones (Lujiazui and the Bund) and is benefiting the most among Chinese cities from the country’s financial liberalisation.

Wild Card Location

Seoul (Score: 53.5 percent; Position: #5) scores favourably on measures of economic scale and wealth, as well as employment considerations such as political stability, ease of doing business and city infrastructure.

While Seoul’s ranking on property factors is modest, it scores highly on human factors such as safety, environment and the high-tech city metric.