Japan Relocation- Solid Recovery in the Economy in 2012

Jesper Koll, for Morgan Stanley, is very bullish on a solid recovery in corporate Japan in 2012.





While we can't expect a "V Shaped" recovery as Jesper would call it, it is comforting to here that 2012 is looking solid for corporate Japan.

We look forward to servicing corporate Japan as the confidence grows back!

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!
The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

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Top Relocation Providers in the World

HRO Today has identified the top relocation and training providers based on customer survey data. Each respondent was asked about services provided, scope and scale of services, and the quality and satisfaction with the services.

Breadth of Service Winner: Mobility Services International (MSI)
Size of Deals Winner: Paragon Relocations
Quality of Service Winner: NEI Global Relocation

OVERALL WINNER: GRAEBEL

Overall Rankings;
1. Graebel
2. Weichert
3. NEI Global Relocation
4. Cartus
5. Brookfield
6. Prudential (Pricoa)
7. Sirva
8. AIReS
9. The MIGroup
10. The Lexicon Group
11. Paragon
12. ACS Relocation & Assignment Services (Xerox)
13. Mobility Services International

Congratulations to Graebel, Weichert and NEI Global Relocation! The best of the best!!

You can see further details here; http://www.hrotoday.com/content/4838/2011-bakers-dozen-customer-satisfaction-ratings-relocation-providers

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!
The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

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Washington's Assault on American Expats

You do have to feel sorry for all our American clients and colleagues who are over taxed by their home country, when relocating overseas. This is for them;

The U.S. is the only developed nation in the world that taxes its citizens on income they earn abroad.
By WILLIAM MCGURN

This new year, spare a thought for that most underappreciated class of citizen: American expatriates.

In a world where 95% of consumers live outside our borders, Americans working abroad serve as the sales and marketing force for Brand USA. All things being equal, people go with what they know: An American engineer will turn to American technology, an American businessman will hire fellow Americans, and an American contractor will likewise prefer American goods and services. In a nation trying to reach President Obama's goal of doubling exports by 2014, that makes the expat a pretty valuable resource.

Alas, the U.S. tax code—the ugliest of ugly Americans—doesn't work that way. To the contrary, new changes in tax law regard foreign financial institutions (banks, pension funds, etc.) as colonial subjects who must be dragooned into enforcing ill-thought-out U.S. regulations, or face huge fines. Indeed our tax code appears to rest on the assumption that the American expat is a criminal and must be treated that way.

This assumption is embodied in the IRS's new Form 8938, which requires Americans who live abroad to report any foreign financial assets from stocks to partnerships to derivatives above a designated threshold. It comes on top of another form (the FBAR, or Foreign Bank Account Report) already required if a citizen has any foreign accounts that add up to more than $10,000. In some cases, you can be fined for failing to file even if you don't owe the IRS any money.

As bad as this is, the burden will fall more heavily on foreign financial institutions. Within the next two years, these companies will be required to register with the IRS and to report information about their U.S. customers to the IRS—or face a 30% withholding tax on securities transactions that originate in the U.S. It's all part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), which Mr. Obama signed into law in March 2010 as part of one of his larger "jobs bills."
Now most Americans have never heard of Fatca. Overseas, by contrast, it has become notorious.
Financial associations on several continents are screaming foul, and some foreign banks have responded the way you would expect them to respond to something that makes dealing with American customers more costly and burdensome: They're dropping their American customers.
One reason attention in the U.S. has been so muted is because of the nature of those affected. Though the State Department reckons 6.3 million Americans (not including military) are now living overseas, these people come from all over America and thus have no single voice in Congress. In addition, they are easily demagogued by our political class as fat cats living the glamorous life overseas.

The idea behind Fatca is that by cracking down on Americans abroad, the IRS would bring in $8.7 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years. Even assuming it works—a big "if"—that's about $1 billion a year. By any measure it's a puny amount, not to mention the damage it does to the U.S. economy by making Americans more costly and difficult to hire.

Last month IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman acknowledged that foreign financial institutions have "major concerns," but he continues to push with the determination of Inspector Javert. That's probably to be expected in an IRS official. Yet surely there's a larger perspective missing here, one that might begin by asking why we are the only developed nation in the world that taxes its overseas citizens, forcing them to pay taxes in America as well as in the country where they are residing.

Yes, collecting tax revenue is important. Far more important in our century, however, is creating an economy capable of attracting the world's most precious resource—capital. That capital is human as well as financial. Frank Lavin, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore who now serves as chairman of public affairs at the global PR firm Edelman Asia Pacific, suggests that Americans overseas provide a vital component.

"The future," Mr. Lavin says in an email, "belongs to the networkers—those who can bring together ideas, people, products and financing from around the world. The expat community is the human counterpart to the social sites—and they help ensure that the best America has to offer is connected with individuals and businesses around the world."

At the end of the day, after all, the global economy is really about human beings interacting with one another, bettering themselves and enriching their societies as they do. From the Ohio contractor working in Baghdad to feed his family back home, to the American professor teaching in Hong Kong, to the Boston-bred banker working in London, these individuals are overwhelmingly productive and law-abiding. In an ever more competitive global marketplace, their presence provides a critical boost to American fortunes in key parts of the world.
So here's a New Year's resolution for the IRS and its allies inside the Beltway: Maybe it's time we treated these Americans as economic assets instead of criminal liabilities.

Write to MainStreet@wsj.com

Relocation- What's happening in Japan and Asia

Today, Brookfield announced that they have acquired Prudential / Pricoa's real estate and relocation business in a bold move that puts Brookfield at number 2 behind Cartus. Cartus itself last year acquired "Primacy", and in a bold move from regional to global relocation we have also seen Santa Fe acquire Wridgways in Australia and Interdean in Europe.

So, we are definately seeing some movement in the relocation space, but how do I see things from a relocation perspective in Japan and Asia?

I am feeling 3 strong areas of change.

1. The Big Are Getting Bigger
Cartus, Brookfield and Santa Fe are great examples of the big getting bigger. You can add into their space SIRVA, and you have the big guys in relocation. Large multi-national companies generally will choose one of these big panthers to handle relocation management, especially if you have 1,000 or more people in terms of your mobility population. The big weren't so big, 2-3 years ago, back when we had Primacy, GMAC and Interdean as seperate entities, and weren't so well defined. Other players such as Weichert, MIGroup, Paragon were also in the mix, and although it was known that some were bigger than others, there wasn't a great deal of space between all of these companies back then. Now, there is, and my gut feeling is that the smaller relocation management companies will begin to struggle, unless they have a very focussed area of specialty. I would describe our friends at "Weichert" as doing an excellent job with this- they know exactly who they want to be in relocation, and they are not trying to be Cartus or Brookfield. This is not the case with many of the RMCs I see. In Japan, we are seeing more and more business coming through the big panthers, and less and less business from the smaller global relocation companies.

2. Regional Relocation Increases
In Japan, over the last 12- 18 months, we have felt a definate increase in business from regional relocation providers. Before becoming "global" Santa Fe was a good example of this, but we are now seeing an increase in business from our Asia Relocation Networks, from our European Relocation Networks, and indeed from our US Relocation Networks. Being able to provide a "regional solution" is becoming an important relocation tool. This means belonging to meaningful regional networks; in our case NCompass / Orientations and TIRA in Asia, and maintaining good relationships within the region, and with other regional providers outside Asia.

3. Moving Back to Direct Providers
We knew that the values of a good "direct relationship" would be discovered eventually, and after bad outsourcing experiences that complicated and added little value to the process, we are seeing certain types of clients interested in going back to the good old direct way of doing things; faster, more transparent, more flexible...... good old "relationship" business.

We are gearing up for more and more of 1, 2 and 3 in 2012.

All the very best for the festive season!

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!
The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

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Mercer Quality of Living Survey- Best Places to Relocate!

The below details were announced by Mercer today;

MERCER SURVEY SUMMARY
• European cities dominate worldwide quality of living rankings
• Vienna ranks highest for quality of living; Baghdad ranks lowest
• Honolulu and San Francisco are the top-ranked US cities for overall quality of living, but Canadian cities dominate the new personal safety ranking
• Luxembourg ranks highest for personal safety; Baghdad ranks lowest

Vienna has the best living standard in the world, according to the Mercer 2011 Quality of Living Survey. Zurich and Auckland follow in second and third place, respectively, and Munich is in fourth with Düsseldorf and Vancouver sharing fifth place. Frankfurt is in seventh followed by Geneva in eighth, while Copenhagen and Bern share ninth place. In the US, Honolulu (29) and San Francisco (30) are the highest-ranking cities, followed byBoston (36). Chicago and Washington, DC, are both ranked 43rd. Detroit (71) is the lowest rankingof the US cities that Mercer surveys.

Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (218); N’Djamena, Chad (219); and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq(221) ranks last.

Mercer’s Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against NewYork as the base city. This year, the survey separately identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and the host country’sinternational relations.

Luxembourg tops this personal safety ranking, followed by Bern, Helsinkiand Zurich – all ranked at number two. Vienna ranks fifth while Geneva and Stockholm both ranksixth. Baghdad (221) is the world’s least safe city, followed by N’Djamena, Chad (220); Abidjan,Côte d'Ivoire (219); Bangui, Central African Republic (218); and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (217).

The highest-ranking US cities on the personal safety list are Chicago, Honolulu, Houston and SanFrancisco, all of which ranked 53.

The top-ranking cities for personal safety and security are in politically stable countries with good international relations and relatively sustainable economic growth. Most of the low-scoring cities are in countries with civil unrest, high crime levels and little law enforcement. AmericasCanadian cities dominate the top of the ranking for this region. Vancouver (5) has the best qualityof living and is followed by Ottawa (14), Toronto (15) and Montreal (22). Honolulu (29) and SanFrancisco (30) are the highest-ranking US cities. In Central and South America, Pointe-à-Pitre,Guadeloupe (63) ranks highest, followed by San Juan, Puerto Rico (72) and Montevideo,Uruguay (77). Port-au-Prince, Haiti (218) ranks lowest in the region.

Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe (40) is again the highest-ranking city in Central and South America followed by Nassau, Bahamas (66); San Juan,Puerto Rico (79); and Panama City, Panama (92). At the other end of the personal safety scale, Caracas, Venezuela (205); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (202); Bogotá, Colombia (196); and Kingston, Jamaica (192) rank lowest in the region.

EUROPE
Vienna is the European city with the highest quality of living. German and Swiss cities dominate the top of the ranking, with three cities each in the top 10. Zurich (2) is followed by Munich (4), Düsseldorf (5), Frankfurt (7) and Geneva (8), while Bern shares ninth place with Copenhagen. In the next tier are Amsterdam (12), Hamburg (16), Berlin (17), Luxembourg (19), Stockholm (20), Brussels (22), Nurnberg (24) and Dublin (26). Paris ranks 30 and is followed by Oslo (33), Helsinki (35) and London (38). Lisbon is number 41, Madrid is at 43 and Rome ranks 52. Prague, Czech Republic (69) is the highest-ranking Eastern European city, followed by Budapest, Hungary(73); Ljubljana, Slovenia (75); Vilnius, Lithuania (79) and Warsaw, Poland (84). The lowest ranking European city is Tbilisi, Georgia (214).

With seven cities in the top 10, European cities also fare well in the personal safety ranking. Luxembourg ranks highest followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zurich, which all rank second. Vienna(5) is ahead of Geneva and Stockholm (both rank 6). In Eastern Europe, Ljubljana (30) and Prague (47) rank highest for personal safety, whereas Moscow (199) and Tbilisi (215) rank lowest.

ASIA PACIFIC
Auckland (3) is the highest-ranking city for quality of living in the Asia-Pacific region and isfollowed by Sydney (11), Wellington (13), Melbourne (18) and Perth (21). The highest-rankingAsian cities are Singapore (25) and Tokyo (46). Hong Kong (70), Kuala Lumpur (76), Seoul (80)and Taipei (85) are other major Asian cities ranked in the top 100. Meanwhile, Dhaka, Bangladesh (204); Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (206); and Dushanbe, Tajikistan (208) rank lowest in the region.

In eighth place, Singapore ranks highest for personal safety, followed by Auckland and Wellington– both ranked 9. Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney all rank 25, and all the Japanese cities on the list (Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka and Yokohama) rank 31. The region’s lowest-ranking city for personal safety is Karachi, Pakistan (216).

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Dubai, UAE (74), ranks highest for quality of living across the Middle East and Africa and is followed by Abu Dhabi, UAE (78); Port Louis, Mauritius (82) and Cape Town, South Africa (88). Johannesburg ranks 94 and is followed by Victoria, Seychelles (95); Tel Aviv (99); Muscat, Oman(101) and Doha, Qatar (106). Africa has 18 cities in the bottom 25, including Bangui, CentralAfrican Republic (220); N’Djamena, Chad (219); Khartoum, Sudan (217) and Brazzaville, Congo(214).
Baghdad (221) is the lowest-ranking city both regionally and globally.

At 23, Abu Dhabi has the highest personal safety ranking in the Middle East and is followed by Muscat (29), Dubai (39) and Doha (67). Port Louis (59) and Victoria (79) are the only African cities in the top 100. Elsewhere in the region, Tunis, Tunisia ranks 140; Casablanca, Morocco is at 147 and Cairo, Egypt ranks 176. At 185, Algiers, Algeria is followed by Tehran, Iran (188) and towards the bottom of the list is Tripoli, Libya (204). In terms of personal safety, Baghdad (221) is the lowest-ranking city regionally and globally along with N’Djamena, Chad (220); Abidjan, Côted’Ivoire (219); Bangui, Central African Republic (218) and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of theCongo (217).

Creative Thinking in Relocation

I was privleged to attend a seminar run by Grant Bosnick on CrEaTiVe ThInKiNg last week, and here is a summary of what I learned that might help in creating more innovation in our relocation space;

IMAGINATION
To spark your imagination, you need different "Points of View". You can get these by playing "What if....." games. eg. What if I only had 1 dollar and had to start a business? Or alternatively, you can ask "If I was such and such...." games eg. If I was Jack Welch, CEO of GE, what would I do in this situation?

ASSOCIATION
To spark creativity, a great way is to take 2 different themes and associate them; this helps to create something that is the synergy of two parts, and what you wouldn't have necessarily considered if you just saw them apart. eg. Milk and Lawn Mowers- healthy smoothies from a machine that harvests vegetables directly from your garden- what an invention! This can work great when using the topics as "stepping stones" for brainstorming.

INSPIRATION
Often simple things can inspire ideas. eg. Inflate your goals so they are ridiculously unachievable. eg, We will lease a "Healthy Smoothy Machine" to every senior citizen in Japan, so that they don't need medical attention so regularly. We will ask for government subsidies, as we will be able to lower the medical bill for all Japan.
Or often, inspiration can come when doing some other concentrated activity of focus; eg. when walking around, when in the shower, when driving, when riding your bike and even when sitting on the toilet!

BRAINSTORMING
The idea with brain storming is list as many things as possible, and then go back and;
- Look for the gaps. What is missing, what don't you have?
- How can you group or "cluster" your ideas. How many different themes or focuses do you have?
Doing this, you can create and build ideas, and then take these ideas and compare them, which then enables you to expand the "big picture".

SEEDS AND GERMINATING
It is important to start thinking about things early. Our mind is like a garden, so we need to plant the seeds as soon as possible and then look for synergies.
- Write things down early
- Come back to them and add to them, connect them, and grow them into something much bigger. Then pick the best fruit from within them

REST PERIODS
This is recorded under "inspiration" also, but we need to create "Rest Periods" during our day; relaxtion points when we are just doing one thing and our mind can wander a little; eg. while swimming, while standing in the train, while taking out the garbage, while cleaning your teeth......

Some things to think about to enhance your creative thinking!

The Great Divergence

This is a very interesting view of the way the world is changing in front of us

More Than Japan Housing, More Than Japan Cars and Furniture, More than Japan Serviced Apartments, More Than Japan Destination Services, More Than Japan License Conversion, More Than Japan Information!
The H&R Group is MORE THAN RELOCATION!

www.morethanrelo.com