Newsletter February 2013
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a great New Year 2013, may it be filled with successful property investments, happy tenants and a strong Mongolian economy.
I am extremely pleased to be able to distribute what is now our 2nd and most significant newsletter yet. This issue is filled to the brim with an incredible amount of information, documents, videos, interviews and resources which are unique to M.A.D.
We also discuss within it the progress that the company has made in 2012, plans for 2013 and of course we explore in detail our thoughts and predictions of the general investment environment in Mongolia, the property market and the impact that the upcoming laws could have on the investment potential of the country.
Last but not least, we present our best opportunities of the moment, our latest video, the best investment case study and we provide a general round of the best recent articles concerning Mongolia.
Amongst the essential resources listed in this newsletter, we can find:
1 - The Mongolian Real Estate Report 2013 / 2014
The biggest, the best, the most comprehensive and the most read “bible” on Real Estate investments in Mongolia is back (with a vengeance). The Mongolian Real Estate Report 2013 is the second edition of the only truly comprehensive, unbiased, in-depth market report on Mongolia’s Property market. Based on over 7,000 transaction records, it sheds a powerful light on the true state of the Ulaanbaatar property market, sector by sector and asset class by asset class. The report also explores a wide number of 2nd tier cities and uncovers the best investment opportunities of the moment. Beyond simply portraying vast amounts of data in a concise manner, the Mongolian Property Report 2013 includes in-depth analysis and interpretations of the market by dedicated and seasoned real estate specialists based in Mongolia which allows investors to truly understand the scope, challenges and opportunities in an otherwise opaque and complicated market.
In addition to which, the report contains all the essential information needed by investors to make an effective play on the market, with its detailed how-to guides, its extensive directories and its sample agreements, the report is an essential tool for any investor looking at the Mongolian Property Market, regardless of size and scope.
This year’s version is not only a considerable improvement over the last edition but for this year we are exceptionally releasing it free-of-charge through ourwebsite.
2 - The M.A.D. Welcome Kit 2013
Our new Welcome Kit is still very much a work in progress but our 2013 version, which was released last week, has already become a reference document for a number of expats in Ulaanbaatar. The Welcome Kit 2013 contains essential information about various aspects of life in Ulaanbaatar such as safety warnings, restaurants, shops and bars, advise for newcomers on public transport, where are the best places to live and a brief Mongolian language lexicon. It will be updated throughout the year and we hope that gradually it will become one of our flagship documents. The Welcome Kit 2013 is now available for download from our website.
3 - The Mongolia Fundamentals
We have tried to visually bring out the fundamentals that make Mongolia what it is today and to explain the country beyond its mining boom but rather look at the dynamics of its population, geopolitics and social fabric. This info-graphic representation was prepared by M.A.D. for its clients and will be updated over the course of the year to make it even more comprehensive. The latest version is available freely here.
4 - Case Study - Serviced Apartments
M.A.D. has witnessed considerable uptake in demand for serviced apartments over the past 6 months and this is a sector which presents considerable opportunities for the near-to-mid term future. It is part of a range of services that we would like to expand in order to achieve improved economies of scale and better flexibility. Our apartments are currently running at near 87% capacity and we are sadly forced to turn away a number of clients. In 2013 we hope to expand the number of apartments managed as short-term lets by an additional 50%.
In the case study (link to the actual case study in the newsletter) we explore the returns, potentials and risks to investors for such an investment strategy. We would welcome any enquiries from investors wanting to participate in this opportunity alongside M.A.D.
Current State of Affairs and Future Projects:
1 - M.A.D. in 2012
2012 was a busy and important year in the development of M.A.D. with many changes taking place within the company as well as priorities re-aligned. From a corporate perspective, we concentrated on fundamentally improving the company from within. Our administrative processes and systems were completely overhauled, we updated all our sample contracts and considerably improved our website and its online potential as a strong resource for international investors. We have further successfully completed our corporate audits with Deloitte and as a direct result, our accounting procedures have been revised and improved throughout. We are now slowly building an analytical financial accounting system that will allow us to better streamline our products for the future.
We critically analysed every service and product that we offered and came to the realisation that some services were costing the company too many resources to provide while other real profit centres were not being sufficiently developed. This has led us to the conclusion that we could no longer offer stand-alone renovation services nor could we continue renting short-term apartments at our previously low prices, the management process involved in those services was considerable and the previous price policy penalised longer term tenants over shorter term leases. We have thus decided to introduce a rationalised fee strategy closer in the price range to mid-end hotels that would reward long-term tenants.
From a communication point of view, we have blown all previous records from 2011. Our website now receives an average of 50,000 unique visitors a month, our Facebook presence is amongst the top 10 largest in Mongolia with over 29,000 fans, our combined Twitter feed updates to over 10,000 followers, our M.A.D. videos have been viewed over 20,000 times and our newsletter now goes out to 16,000 people with new registrations coming in every day. We also maintain our “preferred mailing list” for more regular, informal and day to day updates with nearly 600 people registered. In addition to this, we were platinum sponsors at the Mongolian Investment Conference in Hong Kong where we gave two presentations: “The Mongolian Tango” & “The Property Market Update” to over 500 International delegates. We furthermore took a leading part in the “CapitalistExploits Meet Up” event held in Ulaanbaatar. As a follow up to that event, CapEx has now released a series of interviews, resources and articles available for purchase by investors here.
I think it is safe to say that we are increasingly being known as the “Investment Information Centre of Mongolia”. While this increased exposure can be time consuming, it brings along a number of potential customers (everyone needs Real Estate at some point), it also allows us to remain informed of projects taking place in Mongolia. As a final note on visibility, we have finally published our much overdue and long awaited M.A.D. corporate brochure which is now distributed all over Ulaanbaatar.
As far as performance goes, M.A.D. has performed better in 2012 than in any previous years but more importantly so have our clients. We are delighted to be able to announce that none of our clients have lost value on their investments and that some clients have achieved net returns of over 40% through our services and products. We look forward to attempting to beat those records yet again in 2013.
2 - M.A.D. in 2013
As discussed in the two featured articles of this newsletter (Mongolia’s State of the Macro & Ulaanbaatar’s Property Market 2013), we expect the coming year to be one of incredible importance not just for M.A.D. but for Mongolia as a whole. There is little doubt now that the year will be filled with considerable challenges and some real opportunities.
To better explain some of the considerable supply chain constraints present today in the market, we have recently started preparing a comprehensive M.A.D. video to explore the situation within the construction sector, exploring its many challenges in terms of labour, supply of construction materials, regulatory environment, access to infrastructure and climatic challenges. We expect the video to be released on our website in Q2 2013.
Within the company, we are dedicating 2013 to rebuilding and streamlining our services and products from the ground-up. We are simplifying, adding more value and essential support to everything we offer. Our previously extensive range of mix-and-match services could lead to investor frustration as they were administratively heavy and sometimes took longer to accomplish than anticipated due to their very complexity. Our new range of services, which are currently being rolled out, will offer only complete standardised packages, with improved added value to investors, which are easier to manage and thus allows us to be more competitively priced.
Our new strategy will primarily come into its own when we move to our brand new offices in march 2013. Our new offices, with their 285 sqms of space on two floors will become our flagship property and allow the company to continue its organic expansion. It will allow us to present a more comprehensive presence to clients, in step with our growing online visibility. The office is currently being renovated and will demonstrate the very best of our renovation abilities and should be quite a little gem when completed.
The new office will feature 35 desks (from our current 14), a real conference room in which to receive clients, an archive room for our gigantic file cabinets and more importantly, give us the ability of creating real departments with truly specialised staff and thus maximise and grow our profit centres so as to better serve our clients. The new office is strategically located in the very best spot in town, in the middle of Tserendorj Street, between the Circus and the State Department Store. We very much look forward to welcoming you at the opening party in early april.
From a market perspective, we will bring even more focus on the residential city centre properties than we are already doing, it is now evidently clear that they hold their value well and we expect to see considerable opportunities in this sector in 2013. As always, we will take a long-term view of our investments and will concentrate on adding real value to attractive niche markets. We further expect to start construction in Dalanzadgad and start focusing some additional resources in a couple of strategic secondary cities.
Final Words
As always, we hope that you enjoy reading this newsletter and very much hope to be able to see you again in 2013, either in Mongolia or in some other exotic location (hopefully on a beach with palm trees). Please feel free to contact us if you have any question whatsoever. For those of you currently in Mongolia, we wish you a very pleasant Tsagaan Sar holiday.
As always, we hope that you enjoy reading this newsletter and very much hope to be able to see you again in 2013, either in Mongolia or in some other exotic location (hopefully on a beach with palm trees). Please feel free to contact us if you have any question whatsoever. For those of you currently in Mongolia, we wish you a very pleasant Tsagaan Sar holiday.
SOURCE OF THIS ARTICLE : M.A.D. Investment Solutions
Comments
Post a Comment