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What Would Have to Go Wrong for Realty Income to Cut Its Dividend?
Realty Income (O -0.54%) has declared 673 consecutive monthly dividends without a single cut. The real estate investment trust (REIT) has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. We’re talking about a period that included the 2008 financial crisis, the 2020 pandemic, and the soaring interest rates during 2022 and 2023.
You could truthfully say that Realty Income offers one of the most dependable monthly dividends on the market today. But what would it take for this REIT to cut its dividend?
Image source: Getty Images.
Three apocalyptic scenarios for Realty Income’s dividend
We could envision many ways Realty Income could reduce its dividend payout. Maybe aliens from another planet arrive and blow up buildings across the world. However, I think three scenarios don’t require such an active imagination.
Like most REITs, Realty Income borrows to fund purchases of new real estate. This makes the company sensitive to interest rates. Should rates skyrocket and remain elevated for a prolonged period, Realty Income could be forced to refinance some of its debt at a much higher cost than in the past. If interest expense increased too much, the company could have to cut its dividend.
Speaking of borrowing, it’s possible that Realty Income’s management team could take on too much debt. Even if interest rates don’t soar, credit rating agencies could downgrade the REIT’s credit rating if its balance sheet becomes too debt-heavy. An especially dire scenario would be a downgrade of Realty Income’s credit rating to below investment grade. The company wouldn’t be able to access capital easily and might have to resort to asset sales and dividend cuts to raise money.
Today’s Change
(-0.54%) $-0.34
Current Price
$62.36
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$58BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$62.30 – $64.95
52wk Range
$55.86 – $67.94
Volume
9.6K
Avg Vol
6M
Gross Margin
50.76%
Dividend Yield
5.20%
The third scenario in which Realty Income must cut its dividend is when multiple major tenants go bankrupt around the same time. The company’s top 20 tenants generate over one-third of its total annual rent. A wave of bankruptcies in this group could easily jeopardize the REIT’s ability to pay its dividend at the current level.
Realty reality check
While these three scenarios are possible (and certainly more likely than an alien invasion from outer space), none is probable.
I seriously doubt that Realty Income’s management team would take steps that would threaten the REIT’s solid A3/A- (reflecting a low risk of default) credit ratings. I’d be shocked if several of the company’s top tenants, including Dollar General (NYSE: DG), 7-Eleven (SVNDY +1.99%), and Wynn Resorts (WYNN +0.35%), went bankrupt simultaneously.
Sure, interest rates could rise and stay elevated for longer than investors would prefer. But Realty Income has survived high-rate environments in the past.
Realty Income could conceivably have to cut its dividend one day. However, a lot would have to change for that to happen. I continue to view this REIT as one of the best high-yield dividend stocks on the market.
J-pop powerhouse ASOBISYSTEM opens first US headquarters in California
ASOBISYSTEM, the Tokyo entertainment company that has spent close to two decades exporting Harajuku culture, has established a US subsidiary.
ASOBISYSTEM U.S.A. INC. is headquartered in Culver City, California, and will handle business development, partnerships, marketing, publicity and artist support across North America.
ASOBISYSTEM calls the launch its biggest investment yet in North America, and a permanent base for the J-pop acts it has been sending on tour across the United States.
Leading the subsidiary is Yusuke Nakagawa, who founded ASOBISYSTEM in 2007 and will keep his role as CEO of the company’s Japan headquarters.
Nakagawa is credited with helping popularize the aomoji-kei fashion movement, and sits on the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat’s Cool Japan Public-Private Partnership Platform.
“We’ve seen incredible growth in global interest for Japanese entertainment over the last several years, and we believe now is the right time to establish a permanent presence in the United States,” said Nakagawa.
“Our goal is not only to create more opportunities for our own artists, but to help build lasting connections between Japan and North America by supporting creators, companies, and partners on both sides.”
Yusuke Nakagawa, ASOBISYSTEM
“Our goal is not only to create more opportunities for our own artists, but to help build lasting connections between Japan and North America by supporting creators, companies, and partners on both sides.”
The choice of Culver City puts ASOBISYSTEM inside one of Los Angeles’s densest entertainment and technology clusters.
Sony Pictures has anchored the district since 1990, and Apple, Amazon MGM Studios, TikTok and HBO have all opened offices there.
Apple Music runs a studio in the city, and Beats, the Apple-owned audio brand, is headquartered there.
Spotify‘s Los Angeles base sits across town in Downtown LA’s Arts District, alongside Warner Music Group – putting the streaming services, TikTok and the studios within reach of ASOBISYSTEM‘s new office.
The launch lands as Japan‘s music business pushes to grow overseas, after years anchored in one of the world’s richest domestic markets.
Japan is the second-largest recorded music market in the world, according to the IFPI‘s 2026 report, and streaming is widening the reach of its artists.
Japanese-language music’s share of the world’s Top 10,000 streaming tracks climbed to 2.1% in 2023 from 1.3% a year earlier, according to Luminate.
Those figures were reported by MBW in 2025, when ASOBISYSTEM partnered with Singapore-based investment firm blackx to widen J-pop’s global reach.
In that deal, blackx‘s Japan head Hiroki Shirasuka pointed to “unprecedented global momentum for J-Pop.”
The expansion builds on ASOBISYSTEM‘s artists gaining traction in the US.
ATARASHII GAKKO!, the four-member group that made its worldwide debut in 2021 through US label 88rising, appeared at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2024 and completed a North American tour that year.
The group returns to the US this fall for the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle in September 2026.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who debuted in 2011, has completed multiple North American tours.
The roster also includes producer Yasutaka Nakata, of the electronic duo CAPSULE, who wrote New Genesis – the Ado single from the film One Piece Film: Red.
The company’s newer KAWAII LAB. project, home to the seven-member group FRUITS ZIPPER, runs under the mission “From Harajuku to the World.”
ASOBISYSTEM‘s US footprint already includes the New York restaurant SUSHIDELIC, designed by the company’s artist Sebastian Masuda.
ASOBISYSTEM‘s move follows, on a smaller scale, the route K-pop‘s companies took into Western markets.
HYBE, the South Korean company behind BTS, spent USD $1.05 billion to acquire Scooter Braun’s US-based Ithaca Holdings in 2021, folding a Western management company and its roster into a newly formed HYBE America.
Braun took a seat on HYBE‘s board, giving the company on-the-ground US relationships that BTS and its other acts could tap.
ASOBISYSTEM is opening an office rather than acquiring a company, but it frames the goal in similar terms – “building infrastructure on the ground” and partnerships inside the market.
The launch is part of a wider effort by Japanese music companies to build their own infrastructure in international markets.
Avex, one of Japan’s biggest music companies, expanded into North America with a US arm spanning publishing, labels and venture investment.
A cluster of Japan’s next-generation companies – including ASOBISYSTEM, SKY-HI‘s BMSG and And Music, the home of rapper Awich – is among the backers of Nebula17, the Los Angeles company launched in 2025 by former Avex USA CEO Naoki Osada to break Japanese talent in the US.
Alongside its own roster, ASOBISYSTEM USA will offer representation, business development, PR and consulting to Japanese companies expanding abroad, and act as an entry point for North American brands, promoters and media seeking Japanese talent.
ASOBISYSTEM describes the US headquarters as a long-term investment in the future of Japanese entertainment.Music Business Worldwide
The Algorithmic Market Hypothesis
This report examines the transformation of financial markets as trading shifts from human-driven to algorithmically dominated activity, with particular focus on LLMs as a distinct and increasingly influential category of market participant.
American Ends Economy-to-Business Upgrades on Some Routes
American Airlines Ends Economy-to-Business Upgrades on Some Routes
American Airlines is changing how complimentary upgrades work on select transcontinental and Hawaii flights, and the update will not necessarily be an improvement for every elite member.
Starting August 25, 2026, AAdvantage status members booked in Main Cabin will be upgraded to Premium Economy, rather than Business Class, on eligible flights where Premium Economy is offered and seats are available.
That means the complimentary upgrade benefit on these routes is effectively shifting from a potential Business Class seat to Premium Economy. American will automatically request the upgrade after the ticket is issued, and upgrades will continue to clear based on elite status and availability.
The new policy applies to select premium transcontinental routes and flights between the mainland and Hawaii, including:
- New York-JFK to Los Angeles
- New York-JFK to San Francisco
- Boston to Los Angeles
- Dallas-Fort Worth to Honolulu
- Dallas-Fort Worth to Kona
- Dallas-Fort Worth to Maui
- Phoenix to Honolulu
- Chicago to Honolulu
- Chicago to Maui
American says additional flights and routes could be added later.
Elite members will still be eligible for a complimentary upgrade to Business Class when they purchased a Premium Economy ticket, when the aircraft does not offer Premium Economy or when they purchased an Instant Upgrade to Premium Economy.
Already-confirmed Business Class upgrades will remain valid as long as the itinerary is not changed. Beginning August 25, American will update existing Main Cabin upgrade requests on eligible flights to show Premium Economy, although the process may take several days.
Systemwide upgrades are not affected in the same way. Members can still use them to move from Main Cabin or Premium Economy into the next cabin, including Business or domestic First Class. They can also be used to upgrade from Business to First where that cabin is offered.
American describes the change as expanding complimentary access to Premium Economy, which offers wider seats, additional legroom, upgraded dining and amenity kits on select flights. But for elite members who previously hoped to clear directly from Main Cabin into lie-flat Business Class, the change is clearly a negative.
There is also a seating consideration. American warns that Premium Economy cabins on some aircraft include middle seats, and upgraded passengers could receive one when preferred seating is unavailable.
Other AAdvantage Changes
American also announced several other AAdvantage updates, including the upcoming ability for U.S. members to book certain domestic flights using a combination of cash and miles.
Free high-speed Wi-Fi sponsored by AT&T is now available on more American flights for AAdvantage members, including all single-aisle mainline aircraft and select widebody and regional planes. American is also adding new Loyalty Point Reward choices and plans to offer Million Miler members a selection of gifts at future mileage milestones.
What If You Got 2 Hours Back Every Week? The Research Says You Can.
Workers who use AI regularly are saving an average of 2.2 hours a week, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research on how people actually use these tools.
That’s not a projection or a sales pitch. It’s a measured average across real workers doing real jobs, and it’s a number worth sitting with if you’re a doctor who hasn’t found a use for AI yet.
Now, most doctors who haven’t built AI into their workflow yet aren’t skeptical because they distrust the technology. They’re skeptical because they’ve watched plenty of “game-changing” tools come and go, and they know hype and reality are usually two different things.
That skepticism is fair. Especially with all the crazy news around it.
But it’s worth a second look in 2026. The research behind AI and productivity has gotten rigorous enough to actually evaluate, and what it shows is specific, measured, and applies directly to anyone doing complex, high-stakes work under time pressure.
Sound familiar? That’s most of medicine. And it’s also the investor, entrepreneur, and content creator that a growing number of doctors are becoming on the side. Let’s talk more about it.
Disclaimer: While these are general suggestions, it’s important to conduct thorough research and due diligence when selecting AI tools. We do not endorse or promote any specific AI tools mentioned here. This article is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, financial, or clinical advice. Always comply with HIPAA and institutional policies. For any decisions that impact patient care or finances, consult a qualified professional.
The Study That Made This Serious
The best single piece of evidence on AI and professional performance comes from a collaboration between Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group, published in peer-reviewed form in Organization Science in March 2026.
Researchers ran a preregistered controlled experiment with 758 BCG consultants, roughly 7% of the firm’s individual contributor workforce. These were experienced knowledge workers doing complex, judgment-heavy tasks: ideation, strategic analysis, writing, persuasion.
The kind of work that doesn’t lend itself to easy automation.
For tasks within the AI’s capability range, consultants using AI worked over 25% faster, got quality ratings over 40% higher, and finished more than 12% more tasks.
The study also introduced something called the jagged technological frontier, which might be the most useful way to think honestly about AI right now.
The finding: AI can make a consultant sharper on one task and worse on the next, even when the two tasks look equally hard and sit side by side in the same project.
That nuance matters. The case for AI isn’t that it makes everything easier. It’s that it makes specific things dramatically easier, and whoever figures out which things first gets a real, compounding advantage over everyone still waiting on the sidelines.
What the Broader Data Shows
The Harvard and BCG study is arguably the most rigorous piece of evidence out there, but it’s not alone.
In October 2025, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published findings from its ongoing Real-Time Population Survey, conducted alongside researchers at Vanderbilt and Harvard. Among workers who used generative AI, average time savings hit 5.4% of work hours, roughly 2.2 hours in a standard 40-hour week.
The more often people used it, the more time they saved. A third of daily users reported saving at least four hours a week.
And that’s the average across everyone, including the casual, once-in-a-while users. For people who build a real, consistent habit with these tools, the payoff is bigger.
McKinsey’s research found that in 2023, only 30% of employees reported using AI at work. By 2025, that number hit 76%. This isn’t the early adopter phase anymore.
What started as an experiment for a handful of tech people has become standard practice across industries.
Where the Leverage Is Highest for Doctors
The gains from AI aren’t spread evenly. They’re concentrated in specific kinds of tasks, and knowing which ones matters a lot more than general enthusiasm about “AI” as a running trend.
Writing, documentation, and communication
This is where AI delivers the most consistent results across every profession.
A 2023 MIT-led study published in Science found that access to ChatGPT cut completion times on professional writing tasks by roughly 40% and raised independently rated quality scores by 18%. For doctors, the obvious application is clinical documentation.
Ambient scribes and AI-assisted note drafting have gone from novel to standard at a growing number of health systems. But the same tool works just as well for anything writing-heavy outside the clinic: investor updates, educational content, emails, grant applications, consulting deliverables.
Research and synthesis
Pulling from multiple sources, figuring out what’s relevant, summarizing what matters.
This eats more time than almost anything else in a complex decision, whether that decision is about a patient, an investment, or a business call. AI tools connected to verified databases compress that process significantly. It’s not just about speed. It’s about covering more ground before committing to a direction.
Ideation and problem solving
The BCG study found some of the strongest results here, in creative and strategic work. AI doesn’t replace judgment about which idea is best. It just hands you more options faster, so whoever’s making the final call is choosing from a stronger set of alternatives.
Administrative overhead
Scheduling, formatting, drafting templates, prepping materials for anything recurring. These tasks eat time without requiring the expertise that actually makes a doctor irreplaceable.
AI handles them competently and hands that time back.
The Part That Goes Beyond the Clinic
Here’s what usually gets left out of the productivity conversation: the benefits of AI don’t stay inside the job. They show up in every part of a busy person’s life.
A doctor evaluating a real estate syndication needs time to read the offering memorandum, check the sponsor’s track record, and understand how the deal is structured before writing a check. That kind of thinking takes cognitive energy that’s in short supply after a full clinical day. AI tools that speed up the research and drafting behind that due diligence give back both time and mental bandwidth.
A doctor building a side income stream, whether through consulting, a content platform, a course, or an education brand, is doing exactly the kind of work AI is well suited to support. Writing, research, email sequences, presentation prep. These are places where the time savings show up immediately and the quality gains are easy to measure.
A doctor managing an investment portfolio is tracking information across multiple positions and making decisions that require staying current. AI tools that summarize reports, flag relevant news, and organize financial information cut down the maintenance load without cutting the quality of oversight.
The common thread? Doctors building anything outside of clinical medicine run into the same wall everyone runs into: not enough time or mental bandwidth.
That’s exactly what AI gives back, in real, meaningful amounts, when it’s used with intention.
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Why Timing Matters
In 2023, only 30% of employees reported using AI at work, according to McKinsey. By 2025, that number reached 76%. The shift happened fast, and it hasn’t slowed down. Across professional services, the question has moved from whether to use AI to how to use it well.
For doctors, timing carries its own weight. Clinical medicine is demanding enough that finding room for anything outside of it is hard. AI tools that cut down documentation, inbox load, and administrative work create openings that didn’t exist before. Those openings are where the rest of a career, or a business, gets built.
There’s also a fluency argument worth sitting with. The people getting the most out of AI right now aren’t necessarily the most technically savvy in the room. They’re the ones who started early, made mistakes, figured out what actually works for their situation, and built habits around it. That process takes time, and it compounds. Starting now means being noticeably more capable in twelve months than someone who waited it out.
The research is more rigorous than it was two years ago. The tools are more capable. The use cases are clearer and better understood. The window to be an early mover hasn’t closed. But it’s narrowing.
A Practical Starting Point
The research keeps pointing to the same thing: AI works best on specific tasks with clear outputs. A reasonable starting point for any doctor without a regular AI habit is to find the one task in a typical week that eats the most time without requiring the skills that actually make them irreplaceable.
For most doctors, that’s documentation, email, or administrative overhead. All three are well-suited to AI help and carry low risk.
From there, it expands naturally. Research tasks. Summarization. Drafting for side projects. Prep work for investment decisions. Each new use builds familiarity and makes the next one faster to pick up.
The doctors who’ll look back on this period as a turning point aren’t the ones who mastered every tool on the market. They’re the ones who paid attention early, tried something small, and kept going.
That’s a pretty low bar. And the door’s still open. As with anything worth using, the smart approach is to start with healthy skepticism, verify what actually works, and never let enthusiasm outrun judgment. Due diligence applies here just like it does everywhere else.
So, what’s the one task eating your week right now that has nothing to do with why you became a doctor in the first place? Let us know in the comments.
Download The Physician’s Starter Guide to AI – a free, easy-to-digest resource that walks you through smart ways to integrate tools like ChatGPT into your professional and personal life. Whether you’re AI-curious or already experimenting, this guide will save you time, stress, and maybe even a little sanity.
Want more tips to sharpen your AI skills? Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive insights and practical advice. You’ll also get access to our free AI resource page, packed with AI tools and tutorials to help you have more in life outside of medicine. Let’s make life easier, one prompt at a time. Make it happen!
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical, legal, compliance, or professional advice. The information provided here is based on available public data and may not be entirely accurate or up-to-date. It’s recommended to contact the respective companies/individuals for detailed information on features, pricing, and availability. All screenshots, if any, are used under the principles of fair use for editorial, educational, or commentary purposes. All trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.
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Further Reading
AI Experiments Need Domain Experts. Here’s How to Support Them.
<p>Without the right scaffolding, the people closest to the work often end up quietly dropping out of the innovation process.</p>
Better’s new CEO pledges enterprise focus after another loss
Better’s new boss is promoting the lender’s shift toward an enterprise strategy, a plan which could see it also expand into the wholesale space.
Processing Content
“We are now in a transitional phase between a founder-mode based company, which is creativity and many different projects, versus an enterprise stage of executing against very select ideas that have a demonstrated product market fit,” he told investors.
The lender posted a $30.6 million net loss for the quarter, and hasn’t approached a profit since going public in 2023. That loss was trimmer than
While company leaders this year had a goal of breakeven adjusted EBITDA by the end of the third quarter, Lewis acknowledged the lender is going to fall short, and did not forecast a future date for profitability. Better’s latest adjusted EBITDA was negative $14 million, an amount which included a $6.5 million benefit from a reserve release related to pre-June 2022 loans.
Earnings gains
Better reported loan volume of $1.67 billion in the second quarter, up slightly from the prior period but 38% greater than
The company’s net revenue also ticked up to $54.7 million in the second quarter, a 28% annual increase. Better’s warehouse lines of credit grew to $850 million, a 48% increase from the end of 2025, and it closed the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $102.3 million.
Executives shared slightly lower guidance for the third quarter, based on
Company plans
The lender says it’s sharpening its focus on being a platform model, with its
“With that said, D2C remains a core part of Better’s operations,” said Lewis. “If we have the lowest unit economics in the industry, we have a right to win across channels, and Tinman is what gives us that advantage in every channel we serve.”
The firm also backed its retail arm, Neo Home Loans, which serves as Better’s “innovation platform” and which is still recruiting loan officers, according to executives.
Big picture
Better is projecting more than $45 million in annualized cost reductions by the end of the year, of which a meaningful impact should show up in the third quarter earnings.
The board of directors is searching for a full-time CEO, and Lewis emphasized that his role is an interim one. He will receive a minimum salary and he and the board have tied the compensation to equity rather than cash. While Lewis reiterated the lender’s shift into an enterprise provider from its fintech roots, he lauded Garg’s vision and building of the company.
The lender’s stock fell precipitously this week following Garg’s ousting, from $26.62 per share Monday afternoon to a close of $16.64 Thursday afternoon.
Asia needs deeper energy markets if it’s going to achieve its AI ambitions
Asia’s energy security depends on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway it doesn’t control, and the fallout from the return of conflict would extend well past fuel pumps.
If Asia doesn’t build deeper, more liquid electricity networks now, it risks losing its slice of the AI value chain. Nearly every major Asian economy now has a formal national AI masterplan. Japan recently announced a 370 trillion yen ($2.3 trillion) budget, with more than a quarter of that sum earmarked for spending on artificial intelligence and chips alone over the next 15 years.
Training a frontier AI model concentrates enormous computing power into a handful of locations, while inferencing pushes low-latency facilities into dense urban hubs. Data center power demand across Asia-Pacific is expected to increase by an estimated 165% in 2023-30.
Much of the region’s headline megawatt figures, though, are “bragawatts”—announcements that look impressive on paper but are far slower to turn into real energy.
Why? Despite the rapid progress in developing renewable energy generation, reliable systems require major grid upgrades. Renewables are typically built far from demand centers and generate power intermittently. Without new transmission and storage, server racks will therefore struggle to operate at full capacity. According to the International Energy Agency’s Southeast Asia Outlook, grid and storage investment in 2025 was just $13 billion, far lower than the $50 billion needed annually till 2050.
Also, in an era of higher fuel prices and energy insecurity, other priorities may supersede electricity supply for data centers. Politicians and policymakers want to keep the lights and the air-conditioning on, after all.
The U.S. is a cautionary tale. Up to half of all planned U.S. projects may not come online this year. In the first three months of the year, 75 data center projects worth a combined $130 billion were blocked or delayed by local opposition, matching the total number blocked in all of 2025.
Asia is already living a version of this. The region delivered only about 38% of its announced data center capacity in 2024, one of the widest plan-to-delivery gaps of any market globally, according to our white paper with Oxford’s Smith School. The problem is particularly acute in Malaysia and India, the two countries banking on a digital infrastructure boom.
Johor has banned the construction of Tier 1 and 2 facilities due to concerns over the strain on local water infrastructure, while India’s hopes to double projected capacity by the end of the next financial year will have to contend with severe grid delivery lags.
With AI-driven euphoria flooding the markets, the gap between what’s promised and what’s feasible is only going to widen.
Commodity markets are already pricing the announced build-out rather than what’s executable. Copper prices have stayed high on assumptions of surging data center construction demand, and transformer costs are running at two to three times pre-2020 levels as developers lock in scarce equipment.
If interconnection queues stretch the way they have in the U.S. and Europe, the mismatch between announced and delivered capacity could produce the kind of boom-bust cycle that metals markets saw in the last decade.
Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea are responding with regulatory frameworks that require data center developers to draw up plans for battery storage and curtailment management alongside grid-impact assessments.
That means Asia’s AI build-out may slow down, even as the U.S. presses ahead with a further $4 trillion in data center construction planned through 2028. Every quarter that Asian operators wait is another quarter of compute, talent, and capital that could end up being deployed elsewhere.
A more liberal approach to distributed energy generation and electricity trading—essentially opening wholesale electricity markets to price competition—will help attract more investment and ease the region’s dependence on imported oil and gas. Getting there, however, requires deeper, more transparent energy markets.
The region’s electricity markets currently do not give investors the transparency they need.
Most Asian electricity systems still rely on a traditional ecosystem: vertically integrated, state-owned utilities acting as single buyers, with retail tariffs set administratively and limited trading allowed for third parties that can generate the future pricing signals needed through forward contracts. Investors in mature markets like Europe and the U.S., on the other hand, take such trading layers for granted.
Renewable energy investors in Asia are left with less certainty over long-dated returns, which are more exposed to government intervention during demand surges. This increases the risk that grid projects stall for lack of investment — the same grid that Asia’s data centers are waiting to connect to.
Some of the work to liberalize electricity markets is under way. Japan’s power futures market, for example, is the fastest-growing electricity derivatives market globally. India’s power exchange IEX now runs day-ahead and term-ahead markets. Meanwhile, electricity has been flowing and traded commercially from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore since 2022.
Marex, where I work, has been contributing to growing liquidity in Japan’s power derivatives markets. In New Zealand, Marex was recently selected to provide an over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform supporting the country’s standardized super-peak electricity contract — deepening a local market that, like many across Asia, has traditionally been fragmented and thinly traded.
These steps point to what deeper Asian power markets could look like: instruments and platforms that let generators, industrial users and investors hedge and price electricity with the same confidence they bring to other commodities.
Electricity in Asia needs to trade with the same rigor as crude oil does in the global market. Hitting the AI build-out the region wants will ultimately require power markets that are sufficiently robust—and transparent—to give capital the confidence to build ahead of demand, not behind it.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.