In April 2017, Henry Lubis, an analyst at Megatrends, a global ratings firm, reviewed the analysis he had completed of Lippo Karawaci's EVA (Economic Value Added). He had come to hear that Johannes Seng, CEO of PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk (Lippo Karawaci), Indonesia's largest listed property company by revenue and total assets, had emerged from the annual Board of Directors meeting in March 2017 without obtaining an approval to incur capital expenditure of US$100 million (IDR1.34 trillion ) in 2017. The Board of Directors wanted to assess Lippo Karawaci's shareholder value creation track record, and evaluate whether it was more prudent for the company to focus on growth by expanding its business rapidly through massive capital expenditure, or take measures to achieve a sustainable EVA for its operations. The Board's concern was that Indonesia's improving economic growth was not translating into the expected fillip in the property sector, especially in the residential segment. The case provides an overview of the Indonesian property market as of end-2016, Lippo Karawaci's business profile and consolidated financials, and the market data necessary to compute its EVA and use this metric to assess value creation in its business lines. The recommendation of the company's strategy, i.e., growth versus consolidation, needs to be based on the appropriate cost of capital that incorporates the cost of debt and equity (as opposed to accounting profit that factors in just the cost of debt). Another consideration is the company's EVA track record based on reported debt and core equity (i.e. the sum of equity and retained earnings).

Sally Tan, an equity analyst with Prospero Asset Management Company (PAMC), is tasked with recommending units of four Singapore REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) - CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), Ascendas REIT (A-REIT), Soilbuild Business Space REIT (Soilbuild REIT), and Parkway Life REIT (P-Life REIT) for three of PAMC's portfolios: 1. The Prudent Equity Fund that targeted equity investors with a low risk appetite and desired stable, recurring dividend income; 2. The Balanced Equity Fund that targeted equity investors with a moderate risk appetite and expected a combination of dividend income and capital gains; and 3. The Wealth Accumulation Fund that targeted equity investors with a high risk appetite focussing on total returns. These investors were indifferent between dividend income and capital gains and also wanted an exposure to overseas markets. To enable unit selection, the case provides information on the operating and financial performance, the unit prices and distributions of the four Singapore REITs, as well as the underlying macroeconomic drivers. As of November 2016, there were over thirty REITs listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Singapore listed REITs have a sector focus i.e. their portfolios consisted almost exclusively of assets from one of the following sub-markets - residential, retail, industrial, office, healthcare and hospitality. The REITs chosen in this case study comprise the largest REITs in the retail (CMT), industrial (A-REIT) and healthcare (P-Life REIT sectors, and an industrial REIT whose operating and financial performance is weak (Soilbuild REIT), to enable the class to get an exposure to retail, industrial and healthcare REITs and distinguish REITs with weaker business and financial profiles from stronger ones.