Daily Briefing: Are rental rates too high for Singapore's businesses?; Vickers Venture eyes $500m fund

REITS and high business cost are intricately linked, this is real. Just ask the many retail shop operators or food court stalls owners who suffer under one of the few major REITs operator, they will tell you. REITs are pushing the cost of shopper experience to the shop operators and mandating renovation to their specifications at the shop operator’s cost. REITs not only charge rentals, they also charge a percentage of sales on the revenue.

Read more here.

Every time the government tweaks vehicle-related regulations, car owners steel themselves for another financial pinch.

We’re talking about those oh-so-frequent ERP rate hikes or the recent announcement about the implementation of a zero vehicle growth rate which will inevitably raise COE prices. But this time, we have some good news.

Beginning in 2018, car owners no longer need to worry about losing their warranties no matter which workshops they service their cars at. That means you get to shop around and use cheaper workshops, instead being tied to “authorised workshops” for fear of losing your warranty.

Read more here.

Singapore-based Vickers Venture Partners is looking to raise its largest fund yet of up to $500 million later this year as it seeks to increase investment in biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), said its chairman, Finian Tan.

The venture capital firm is already looking for investors to participate in its Fund VI, Tan said in an interview.

"It's not so soon (but) we are soft-marketing right now, looking for anchor investors for our new fund," he told Reuters.

Read more here.