This PwC graph shows the substantial role family offices play in investments
in startups worldwide.
Graph courtesy of PwC
This week we learned from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office that
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council this month passed a bill offering tax exemption for
eligible family-owned investment holding vehicles managed by single
family offices in the city. “The bill takes effect on May 19, with the
tax concession applicable to any years of assessment commencing on or
after Apr 1, 2022,” the agency explained. “Secretary for Financial
Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui said the tax concession will
facilitate family offices to set up and operate in Hong Kong, create new
business opportunities for the asset and wealth management sector, and
generate demand for other related professional services. ‘We are
committed to creating a conducive and competitive environment for the
businesses of global family offices to thrive in Hong Kong. This would
foster Hong Kong’s position as a premier family office hub and an
international asset and wealth management center.’ ”
Investopedia explains family office is a term for “private wealth
management advisory firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth individuals.”
Some national, state and regional EDOs are now focused on this niche as
an economic development target, seeking to attract them to their regions
for many of the same reasons they want venture capital firms. PwC offers
this analysis how how family offices have
evolved, citing among other sources a multi-part study the PwC team performed last
year that found that family offices were involved in 10% of all
deals globally in 2021. The firm maintains a database of more than 6,000
family offices. A more recent study posted last month by PwC
states, “Family offices are major players in the global market for
investment in startups. Overall, family office-backed deals represented
a total of 10.1% of all investments in startups worldwide in 2022. Even
more remarkably, fully 32.5% of all capital invested in startups in the
same year was contributed by family offices.”
Pasco County is one of the fastest growing counties in Florida.
Companies are locating to Pasco for expansion sites strategically
located along major transportation corridors providing access to
consumer markets, skilled workforce and vibrant communities near Tampa
International Airport, Port Tampa Bay and CSX Rail.
Demand for project-ready industrial properties has never been higher as
speed to market puts pressure on companies to make quick and informed
location decisions while allocating precious time to design, construct
and open a new facility. As such, the site selection process demands
entitled sites with large contiguous developable acreage serviced with
roads and utilities sized for industrial development.
The Ready Sites
Program features nearly 2,000 acres of assessed properties ready
for industrial development. Additionally, there are millions of square
feet of spec office and industrial buildings under development and ready
to meet market demand. Each Ready Site features numerous digital tools
for site selectors to utilize and tour the site.
PROJECT WATCH
India
Lest one think Micron’s massive investments in the U.S. mean it’s placed
all its chips on one number, this deal illustrates the company’s global
growth. As reported by Indian publication Money Control, based on
documents obtained by Propstack, the company has executed a 10-year
lease for 16 floors in the Phoenix Aquila building in the Hyderabad
metro area. Gachibowli is a suburb known for its business parks and tech
employers. As reported by Telanganga Today and others last year, Micron
plans to add as many as 2,000 employees in the Hyderabad area by 2024,
adding to some 3,000 employed at a site in Raidurgam. “We plan to shift
the existing employees to the new facility and also add 2,000 employees
thus taking our total headcount to 5,000 in the next couple of years,”
Anand Ramamoorthy, vice president and managing director of Micron India,
told the paper. “While currently, we have 3,200 employees in India,
about 90% of them work in Hyderabad and the rest are in Bengaluru and
New Delhi. Hyderabad is the headquarters site for Micron in India and it
houses 14 centers of scale and expertise here.”
DC fast and ultra-fast charger manufacturer Ingeteam announced last week
it will expand its 140,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Milwaukee so
its production lines can kick out more than 13,000 units a year. The
company noted that the facility “will be Buy America compliant under the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requirements for domestic
manufacturing, Buy America Act for funded EV chargers according to the
NEVI program (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure).” We will bring
the technology from our R&D centers and manufacturing facilities in
Spain, and the experience of more than 35,000 EV charger connectors
already deployed globally,” said Jesus Rodriguez, executive vice
president of Ingeteam EV Chargers USA. “This significant investment, in
addition to the more than $20 million already invested in our
cutting-edge manufacturing plant since 2010, will add up to 100 new
well-paying jobs to the region and to our production facility in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over the next five years.” The business line is an
expansion of Ingeteam’s U.S. business that has included wind turbine
generators and solar and energy storage inverters.
Time series of average summer (black) and maximum summer (red) daily
maximum temperatures averaged over England and Wales,
1960-2021.
Graph courtesy of Matthew Patterson, Department of Physics, University
of Oxford, and Eurekalert
“Oh, to be in England now that April’s there,” poet Robert
Browning wrote in 1845. July and August? Not so much. The
University of Oxford posted a news release yesterday calling
attention to a study by Dr. Matthew Patterson from the
university’s Department of Physics that finds that the
hottest days in northwest Europe have warmed at double the
rate of average summer days. Published by Geographical
Research Letters, the study analyzes air temperatures
recorded over the past 60 years.
“These findings underline the fact that the UK and
neighboring countries are already experiencing the effects
of climate change, and that last year’s heatwave was not a
fluke,” Patterson said. “Policy makers urgently need to
adapt their infrastructure and health systems to cope with
the impacts of higher temperatures.”
PHOTO OF THE
DAY
This coming Saturday, May 20th, marks World Bee Day. It’s a fact many
company sustainability leaders know because of the work of firms such as
Quebec’s Alveole and North Carolina’s Bee Downtown, who work with
companies to install and maintain beehives at corporate
campuses and office buildings. We last caught up with Bee Downtown
founder Leith-Kathryn Bonner one year ago when she extolled the attractions
of Greater Charlotte for members of her growing staff. Bonner sent us
this photo from the beehive installations at Innovation Park, located in
University City in Charlotte.
Why does World Bee Day occur on May 20th, you ask? It’s the birthday of
Anton Janša, who in the 18th century pioneered modern beekeeping
techniques in his native Slovenia. Among the many reasons to salute the
bees, the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN reminds us that
pollinators “contribute to 35% of the world’s total crop production,
pollinating 87 of 115 leading food crops worldwide.”
