Need for major change in strategy

or rent, is a fundamental human right, but it is being challenged on several fronts: home prices that have risen well ahead of income growth; the high cost of living in Malaysia; highly indebted households; and a banking sector that is already overexposed to housing mortgages and property developers.

Yet, proposed solutions to the current predicament of a property glut and soft demand for the struggling property industry remain the same old ideas, which caused the current problems of high unsold inventories and rising unaffordability in the first place. These include easing financing for buyers, extending mortgage tenures, concessions on taxes and duties, and marketing campaigns with freebies.

The other solution articulated by some is that those who cannot afford to own a home should rent instead.

Rent is an expense and rises as house prices appreciate, further diminishing the savings of those who are already poor. It perpetuates a class division between the landlords and the tenants. Those with capital buy homes with a deposit, and the mortgages are paid for using the rentals earned from those who cannot afford to buy. Those who believe in this solution lack intellectual capacity, or are intellectually dishonest.

A major strategic rethink is needed to structurally address these issues. We need to move away from the demand- side solutions of the past to start finding a solution on the supply side. Look out for our ideas in the coming weeks.

The Global Portfolio gained marginally, by 0.4%, for the week ended July 2, slightly lagging the MSCI World Net Return Index, which was up 1.5%. Total portfolio returns now stand at 18.3% since inception. Nevertheless, this portfolio is outperforming the benchmark index, which is up 10.3% over the same period.

Technology stocks, by and large, continued to fare very well. Shares in

Adobe, ServiceNow, Microsoft Corp, Alphabet and Apple all ended higher for the week. On the other hand, Vertex Pharmaceuticals saw mild profit- taking after its strong gains over the past two weeks. Other losers include

Alibaba Group Holding, BMC Stock Holdings and Builders FirstSource. E