Future for Financials in Hawaii

Watsup chimps, monkeys, gorillas all the above:
Really admire this community of monkeys trying to get a hold of their financial career. starting to get my foot through the door eating my first couple of bananas here at Merrill. My mind is a bit all over the place as I took a different route than most- undergrad--> imba in Paris--> and now only getting my first experience as an intern. I don't know how far it will take me but I guess any feedback is a self-esteem booster haha. Been into trading that's where the passion is at.
And on another note, I am doing a dissertation on the future for hedge funds/ mutual funds/ financials in Hawaii. Kind of broad, yes, I know but i just want to get other peoples feedback.

Have a solid day. aloha

 

Mind sharing what you have so far? As far as I know, there isn't too many financial institutions in Hawaii. I've heard of a Merill Lynch office in Honolulu.

Just an Undergrad trying to get a job. Something you disagree or dislike about my posts? Let me know by PM'ing me or commenting constructive criticism.
 
Best Response

Because of strict guidelines, I have an outline which goes over three domains that have a huge impact for Merrill Lynch in Hawaii going over: A. Finance i. Economic Value added ii. Employment iii. Taxes paid iv. Investors v. Investments vi. Financial Markets vii. Liquidity B. Investment Banking & Markets i. Analyst Investment Banking ii. Corporate Banking iii. Assessment Asset Managing iv. Credit Managing v. Trading & Sales vi. Research vii. Investment Banking Risk viii. Portfolio Managing ix. Wealth Managing C. Economy i. Tourism ii. Defence iii. Agriculture iv. Service Industry- 1) Finance; 2) Hotels; 3) Healthcare 4) Real Estate 2. Management In this portion, I will begin to explain Merrill Lynch’s Wealth Management in terms of how Merrill Lynch can serve the people of Hawaii to better the future of Hawaii and improve the future of Merrill Lynch. A. Relationship Management i. Asset Managing ii. Community Development iii. Financial Advising iv. Product Solutions v. Real Estate B. Retirement C. Banking D. Credit & Lendors E. Estate Planning F. Investments G. Business Solutions H. Business Planning & Solutions I. Tracking Progress 1. 3. Marketing In this domain, I will explain how Merrill Lynch markets themselves to appeal to the Hawaii target and how they can improve their marketing to improve their future. A. Marketing i. Target Market- Demographic (Retirees, Housing Market) ii. Potential Marketing iii. Public Relations B. Communications i. Brand Communications C. Philanthropy i. Corporate Events in Hawaii

 

It is all really broad and I have postponed it due to the busy work interning at Merrill lynch here now. You are correct there aren't too many but i believe there is a lot of opportunity here being that some of the wealthiest people in the world have homes here or decide to retire here.

 

You do see big firms investing there. GGP has a huge mall there. Cousins did a 25-story office building there. I'm sure there are many more that I'm not thinking of.

But maybe not as much as in LA or NY? And why the fuck would there be? The entire state of Hawaii is like a million people. That's jack diddly shit.

 

Ala Moana kills almost all of the rest of the retail there (was a 5.5 billion valuation when GGP brought in Australian Super and TIAA into the deal earlier this year). The rest of the investment is hotels/resorts. Don't need that many million SF, class a office towers in a place that is mainly tourist/agriculture.

 

I would have to say that Hawaii present problems due to its physical location, but they are solvable. Yet, they are often extra problems requiring solutions nonetheless, and money always chases the easier returns.

Given that it is thousands of miles of away from Los Angeles or San Francisco and many more thousands of miles away from New York, Hawaii is farther from most sources of capital. So when your investment and management teams are in the Lower 48, it is generally, both literally and perceptively, more difficult to get to Hawaii. An island or series of small islands physically present more problems and risks by its very nature. Then people just perceive getting on a plane to fly to Hawaii is somewhat more difficult than say having a team in Southern California and flying to New York or Virginia.

Secondly, Hawaii generally has more prevalent union labor. And with hospitality, labor's role in profit margins is so fundamental. As such, any labor hiccups can cause huge issues on your operating statements and huge legal bills.

Lastly, Hawaii has a lot of ground lease issues due to the fact it is a set of islands. Very few people want to sell the actual dirt to developers. This issue creates a lot of financial and legal headaches that, in my opinion, never allow to an asset on a ground lease to provide the same returns as an equivalent fee simple property.

I will admit that all of these problems can be overcome with the right financing, structure, and team (Something that can be said about any asset), but it is the fact that it requires (in my opinion) all these things to make a deal in Hawaii work that has fewer sources of capital playing in this space. These extra hurdles just drive away a lot of smaller players in the market, so the market's participants are generally larger albeit fewer sophisticated participants. It is important to note that these problems have been overcome as great institutional players have had success here, so I would say it is not an impossible task.

 

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