It has always been the case among millionaires; you’d see their two-digit roomed mansions in the news or the Internet. You hear about property and business acquisitions by a certain Western millionaire. Real estate, for good or for bad, had always reaped positive results. They may take some time to pay, but why are millionaires and nest-egg masters always going for the high road?

An Alternative (Sturdy) Investment

“Real estate is generally accepted as an alternative investment [by high-net-worth investors],” says Simon Jochlin, portfolio analytics associate at StennerZohny Investment Partners, part of Richardson GMP in Vancouver.

“It has the characteristics of an inflation hedge: yield, leverage and cap gains. It does well in upwardly trending markets, it pays you to wait during market corrections and typically it lags equities in market declines – it buys you time to assess the market.”

Is A More Logical Choice

“For example, if you own a rental condo, and the one across the hall goes on sale for 30 per cent less than you think it’s worth, you wouldn’t automatically put yours on the market and sell, too, because you think there is a problem. Indeed, you may actually buy the other condo,” said Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Raymond James Ltd. Darren Coleman.

“And yet when a stock drops on the market, instead of thinking of buying more, most people automatically become fearful and think they should sell.”

Gives More Leverage

Coleman added that “Banks love to lend against it. Over time, this lets you own a property with a much smaller investment than if you had to buy all of it at once.”

Unknown to many, banks mean to acquire as much property as they can. But to consider a millionaire a financial “pushover” of sorts when it comes to acquiring assets (because they can pay), would be blasphemy. But if indeed a millionaire slips up on a property, the bank is more than willing enough to buy, improve and re-sell the property at a higher rate relevant to its immediate environment.

The changing perspectives from classic to modern in today’s younger generation, particularly in where individuals want to live and work, can change in 10 years. At such a time, Europe’s real estate will adapt and answer the change. Possible solutions can be economically and technologically-advanced, paving the way for advancements in real estate.

According to analysts, Generation Y, Millenials and Generation Z have used technology and the Internet since their childhood. The need for open information and sharing of goods and information is present.

Commercial property demands may fall in Europe in the next 10 years. However, there may be an increase in smaller households, affordable housing and easy access of public buildings.

About 60 per cent of people wish to live in urban areas compared to the 30 per cent who wish to live in the cities in the 1950s. It is possible technology and the developing use of Internet and information-sharing.

Green buildings may also crop up as a result. Plenty of Generation Y, Millenials and Generation Z have a strong sense of sustaining the planet. They have been taught to value the reduction, reusing of items and recycling during their younger years.

With important events abound in Malta for November 2015, Malta’s government declares its addition of defence assets to support Malta’s security operation for the Valletta Summit on Migration and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM).

According to the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

“There are no known specific threats for these events and these measures are precautionary.”

The Ministry said the agreement signified the “enduring ties and shared interests as members of the EU” for both UK and Malta.

What Is the Valletta Summit and CHOGM 2015?

The Valletta Summit

With an unexpected number of migrants persecuted or fleeing from war in Africa and the Middle East, the EU has chosen to confront the numbers and take in the refugees with an integrated and co-operative system.

The Valletta Summit on Migration to be held on November this year will address the migration flow challenges, urging governments of the world to collaborate and create efforts to overcome the challenges mass migration, religious persecution and even climate change brings.”

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Before the Paris Summit would be the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The CHOGM would discuss issues on democracy, human rights, good governance, free trade, global development and world peace. The CHOGM is held every two years.

UK and Malta Relations

Malta was once a British colony in history. In the 50s and 60s, Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom and occasionally, the two countries are not economically linked or collaborating.

With the upcoming international events to be held in Malta, the United Kingdom steps up its support for security for its own personnel.

In the wake of the hacking of dating service provider Ashley Madison, a data dump revealed ex-Tory MP Damian Green registering himself in the service provider’s website. The former Minister for Police and Criminal Justice denied ever using the website. He denied the AOL address he used to create the account.

The MP, married, said: “I don’t know anything about this. It’s nothing to do with me.” He added, “I have never registered for an account with Ashley Madison.”

“I don’t know who has used this account. I’ve had so many email accounts over the years. I may have had an aol address many years ago,” said Green.

Investigators found the birth date used in the Ashley Madison account is three years after the MP was born. However, the security question contradicted the earlier evidence as it uses Green’s mother’s maiden name Lyons as a security question.

The Impact Team, which breached Ashley Madison’s servers and website in July, had dumped the details of 36 million fling-seeker, where 1.2 million are British nationals. The database contains 100 people using .gov.uk and .police.uk addresses to sign up for Ashley Madison accounts. Some related to the US government and military had also signed up for the service.

Private sector addresses from IBM, HP, Cisco, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Samsung and Qualcomm were also found in the hacking database.

 

According to Malta Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis, effort is needed to elevate Malta’s reputation as an affordable key holiday destination to attract more travellers. Along with Corinthia Group Chairman Alfred Pisani in the Business Insider conference, Malta is a unique Mediterranean destination.

He said Malta should have better rates should its quality improve.

“If we believe in our capability and maintain values in what we do, we will eventually and slowly improve,” he said.

Pisani said that Malta’s move to high-end tourism was possible if a change in enforcement and high-end establishments come to fruition.

Lewis said

“Many owners of entertainment establishments are now shifting to investments in accommodation and as such, cleaning up the area would be in their interest.”

He was also pretty confident that Malta had no troubles with its economy or development, but he sees that there is room to grow for tourism improvement. Lewis believes the country hasn’t reached its full potential during the summer months with just a 2% growth capacity.

Lewis also encouraged increasing the number of tourists outside Malta. Currently it only has 12% accounted for. He pointed out the government is trying to secure a direct flight deal with China. However, Malta President For Tourism Hospitality and Leisure Philip Fenech said culture must be improved else the quality of tourism in Malta, and tourists, can suffer.

Malta’s economy is built on services, its construction industry and a small part of it made by its financial industry.

It has performed well for many years as it has improved its banking system to international standards and offer very amicable tax arrangements for foreign companies.

Read more about Malta’s progress with this infographic!

Ireland donates its recently-decommissioned LE Aoife to the Maltese armed forces. Its role will be to assist in the Mediterranean refugee rescues. In exchange, the Maltese armed forces must cooperate with Ireland in military exercises and handling defence matters.

The transfer of LE Aoife from the Irish Naval Service would also include personnel training. Maltese military personnel will be sent to Ireland to attend a joint training mission

Ireland Minister for Defence Simon Coveney and Malta Minister For Home Affairs and National Security Carmelo Abela attended a meeting of EU defence ministers in Riga. They agreed to cooperate more closely with each other.

Coveney explained that Malta needed a new ship to assist in the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea.

“Recent tragic events in that part of the Mediterranean have underlined the significant challenges which need to be addressed by the international community and Ireland is very keen to play an active part in this regard,” Mr Coveney said.

“The refugee crisis represents a significant challenge for the EU and that while Ireland was not in the front line of the response to the crisis we were pleased to be in a position to support the response in this manner,” he added.