Daily Briefing: UBS shuns Singapore housing market policies; Razer responds to Nets on e-payments system

And here's how you can evaluate growth companies.

From Bloomberg via Yahoo!:

The threat of government curbs to tame prices makes Singapore and Hong Kong residential property unattractive, the regional head of UBS Group AG’s real-estate investment arm said.

“We have no exposure in the Singapore residential market and we are very comfortable not having any exposure,” Graham Mackie, head of real estate for Asia Pacific at UBS Asset Management, said in an interview. “Historically it’s been very exposed to government policy intervention and that continues.”

Instead, UBS is targeting investments in business parks and light industrial developments, he said. That’s a deliberate strategy which aligns with government policy to develop a more service-oriented economy, Mackie said.

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From The Motley Fool:

There is no one-size-fits-all valuation metric to accurately estimate a company’s true value. However, the PEG ratio may be the easiest metric that gives an investor an idea of the company’s worth based on current profits and earnings potential.

As always, there are other aspects of a business that we need to consider before making an investment decision. Having said that, looking out for companies with a PEG ratio less than one may be a good way to screen for stock ideas.

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From Tech in Asia:

When Nets answered the Singaporean prime minister’s call and outlined its plans for a nation-wide mobile payments system earlier this week, it was inevitable that Razer’s proposal – published a week earlier – would be part of the conversation.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Nets CEO Jeffrey Goh was somewhat skeptical about Razer’s claim that it could roll-out its proposed epayments system within 18 months.

Moreover, he suggested that his company – which was founded in 1985 by Singapore’s three largest banks to establish a national debit network – has an advantage in this area over computer gaming firm Razer and other companies that have not historically focused on payments as their core business.

Read more here.