Sarah Cooper is Managing Director & Global Head of Real Estate Equity Sales at BofA Securities, based in Hong Kong. She is a member of the BofA Hong Kong Leadership team, and Chairman of the Hong Kong Philanthropy committee.
Sarah works closely with both the research & banking side of BofA. She has worked on transactions from markets as diverse as Russia, China, India & Indonesia, as well as being active in traditional developed markets (notably Australia, UK, Germany, Singapore, USA, HK & Japan). Sarah was a top ranked property analyst in Australia, before moving to London and then Hong Kong where she has lived for more than 12 years.
Sarah is ranked the #1 property specialist sales person in II & is a trusted advisor of both global & local real estate investors. Sarah is a Global Trustee for the Urban Land institute, and on the Board of the HK chapter of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association. She is the Chairman of BofA’s HK Philanthropy committee, & was previously Co-Chair of the Asian GBAM Women’s Leadership Council. She completed the Taupo Ironman in 2001, coaches mini rugby, & is passionate about family, travel, & cutting the volume of emails at BofA. She has been at the firm for more than 23 years.
BofA Securities Real Estate Expertise
BofA is a premier financial institution with world-class capabilities, bringing considerable execution experience, a full-service investment banking platform and balance sheet capabilities
Globally, the group has a large team Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging professionals with main offices in New York, Charlotte, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, Mumbai and London, offering fully integrated product capabilities for our clients
Speaking at
Wed 23 Oct
3:30 PM — 4:15 PM (GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi
Main Plenary – A Bull vs Bear Debate – Hong Kong’s Retail Market Landscape – What’s Next?
While retail figures have rebounded after reaching historic lows in 2020 due to the pandemic, the preferences and behavior patterns of both tourists and residents have changed. The rise of "budget travel" and Gen Z's propensity to spend money on experiences rather than physical goods presents major challenges, thus vacancy rates across the city are at an all time high, with large numbers of visibly empty shop fronts.
During our two-on-two debate session, the teams will address the following key questions:
• Is high rent killing retail?
• Can retail tourism be brought back?
• Is luxury retail the solution?
• Can budget travel revitalize the trade?
• How can Hong Kong local trade survive in the face of leakage to Shenzhen?
• Is the existing offer adequate, or does Hong Kong retail need to be re-invented?
During our two-on-two debate session, the teams will address the following key questions:
• Is high rent killing retail?
• Can retail tourism be brought back?
• Is luxury retail the solution?
• Can budget travel revitalize the trade?
• How can Hong Kong local trade survive in the face of leakage to Shenzhen?
• Is the existing offer adequate, or does Hong Kong retail need to be re-invented?