With an estimated total of $1.57bn, Shanghai is the international financial centre (IFC) that has attracted the largest volumes of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the 12 months to the end of October 2014. It is closely followed by São Paulo with $1.45bn, and then London and Singapore with capital expenditures of more than $1bn.
Individual investments into São Paulo were on average much larger than any other IFC in the top 10 as total investment was generated by only seven projects, as opposed to Shanghai’s 20 and London’s 47. Single capital expenditures of more than $350m by private equity firm StepStone, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and corporate advisory firm U-Start were among those to elevate São Paulo's status.
Figures for top IFCs by total outward investment were much higher. The list is topped by New York’s $3.4bn spent over 114 projects, followed by London’s $2.2bn and Abu Dhabi’s $2.1bn. The three hubs also lead by number of projects, with 114, 94 and 72, respectively.
Asia-Pacific is the region that has, by far, attracted the largest volumes of FDI to the financial services industry – an estimated total of $16bn and 308 projects. The largest individual investment was by Japan’s Mizuho into Singapore, estimated to be about $145m.
Unsurprisingly, North America and western Europe are the two regions that generated the largest levels of investment into IFCs, with $12bn and $10.9bn, respectively. Asia-Pacific closed the gap in third, with $8.3bn. There is then a considerable distance to the Middle East in fourth place, with total $2.9bn of outward investment.
