The upcoming challenges for the fashion industry demand for companies to adjust their strategy to a shifting economic environment, fluxes in consumer preferences as well as shifts in the general fashion. Looking forward, consumers are going to continue their demand shifts; factors such as technology, social awareness, and trust present themselves as problems as well as opportunities for investors. A trend of consumers desiring affordability, environmental-conscious products, and variety puts stress on previously consumer preferences. Major players are concerned that the resale/subscription market for instance, could overshadow the growth of fast fashion. Over 40% of the executives surveyed

The worldwide evolution of energy systems represents a hallmark of modern times. This trend is expected to not just continue, but accelerate; car fuel, heating systems, and industry power sources in the coming decades are projecting drastic changes attributed to regulation and innovation. Taking a look at the demand perspective, Global demand for energy is projected to peak around the year 2030, marking an end to over one hundred years of rapid growth and driven by the growth in the renewable energy industry in the energy mix. In recent years both, wind and solar, made up more than fifty percent of new power generation capacity. This growth is expected to accelerate, yet solar is projected t

News reports have illustrated the slowdown in sales on the Canadian west coast, statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association have shown that sales have plunged, and benchmark prices are down 6.5% since six months ago. On the eastern coast, Toronto also saw sales fall sharply, but by half as much as Vancouver and with prices in Canada’s biggest city little changed in recent months. This change in market atmosphere has transformed the Canadian market from the “seller market” status it experienced in 2017 to a mild buyer’s market. Looking at the broader marget regions, the pressure has been most evident in the Lower Mainland-Southwest and Vancouver Island, as well as the Central Okanaga

Over the past few years investment capital in micro-mobility startups has been exponential. As of early 2019, over $5.7 billion dollars was invested in this market in less than four years. A majority of the investments are aimed at Chinese markets. There, the market has grown roughly three times as quickly as the ride hailing services, and several micro-mobility startups have received over $1 billion valuations. Besides the benefits of regular shared mobility (e.g ridesharing), micro-mobility research has indicated that it is preferable to consumers for two reasons: faster than car-based trips on short distances and the fresh air on the trip. This seems understandable taking under considerat

Amidst political winds, true changes in the nature of globalization can easily get overlooked. Globalization drastically transitioned in the mid-2000s, where physical goods became less trade-intensive. Though it is true that output and trade continue in growth (in absolute terms), a smaller percentage of goods off the world’s assembly lines is now traded across borders. Surprisingly perhaps is the decline from 28.1 to 22.5 percent for exports in chains for physical goods. On the other hand, cross-border services increased over 60 percent faster than trade in goods and generate disproportionately larger economic value than traditional macroeconomic statistics could lead to believe. National s

The most recent decade in the United States have seen an upswing in student housing investments, attributed often to the large influx of the 18-24 year old demographic. While Investors have seized opportunities, many universities in the United States overinvested in staff and facilities. In terms of transaction volume, the market is peaking and purchases of existing student housing came in at $9.8 billion in 2016; student construction rose to $5.1 billion the same year. This volume is followed with significant growth. In the last economic cycle, cap rates for student housing moved to high points of close to 8% – investment in the sector was viewed as a riskier asset class than general apart