Company Name: Sunglow Australia
Member Rep Name: Paul Gerlach, General Manager, Residential Development
Member Since date: May 2017
What are your core business activities?
Sunglow is an Australian development and investment company providing financial, investment and funds management services to institutional and high-net worth clients. Our company consists of three divisions which help clients to bring investment into Australia with the potential to benefit from strong, stable returns in key sectors.
- Development Group – focusing on investment in residential property and senior living developments
- Investment Group – providing expert financial, investment and funds management services in growth sectors
- Commodity Trading Group – specialising in all types of commodity trading, import and export, and international finance
Our local operation is supported by our trusted parent company, Sunglow Group in Shanghai, which has over 20 years’ experience in large-scale industries and a total capital scale of 40 billion RMB (AUD$7.6 billion). With expertise in Asia and Australia, Sunglow Australia combines a deep understanding of local investment management with Eastern investment philosophies to bring together the best of both worlds for our clients.
Sunglow Australia is driven by our core purpose to awaken investment potential and deliver superior value to our clients. We strongly believe in shared and sustainable success – everyone benefits when we create value for customers, partners, investors, and society as a whole.
What attracted you to the Property Council?
The Property Council has long been a strong and influential advocate for the interests of the property industry and its members. The Property Council provides us with a first point of call to stay abreast of key issue affecting our industry and opportunity to participate in important debates on these issues. We have found the Property Council’s briefings and updates particularly valuable in obtaining insight into proposed policy, legislative and regulatory changes and what they will mean to our business.
What are the issues of importance to your company that the Property Council can work with you on?
As a diversified property group our interests span from increasing land supply in the greenfield residential space, to improving infrastructure coordination and strata reforms in the apartment sector, and planning reform to speed up approvals cross all our sectors including senior living developments. Like all developers gaining certainty in delivery is key and we are particularly concerned over proposed rising charges for Section 94 and the potential for similar flow on of these increases in to State Infrastructure. Reforming State property taxes and reducing fees, charges, and red tape are key areas where the PCA’s advocacy will greatly assist Sunglow and the industry as a whole.
What do you see as the biggest opportunity for the NSW property industry in the next 12 months?
One of the biggest opportunities to improve the future outlook for NSW property industry over the next 12 months, is to make meaning full progress addressing the root causes of the housing Affordability crisis. Sunglow is very supportive of the Property Council’s 5-point plan released in May 2017 which is aimed at assisting the NSW Government in tackling the underlying causes. Of highest priority has to be increasing housing supply through increased land supply and planning reform. Better cooperation between all levels of government to provide coordinated infrastructure supporting land release is another obvious priority which will deliver great benefits in unlocking land which is able to support housing.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for the NSW property industry in the next 12 months?
The biggest challenges ahead for our industry are all wrapped up with affordability, the slow progress of planning reform, increase fees and charges, and poor coordination between agencies to deliver enabling infrastructure. Despite these cereal frustrations, Sunglow still has a very optimistic view on the property outlook for NSW over the next 12 months. Strong underlying demand generated by population growth and confidence in NSW continued economic performance will see our industry continue to be the main driving force of prosperity in our State.
