GIC gives private equity firms run for their money

Singapore – In the first half of this year, Singapore’s GIC agreed to pay up to $310 million for minority stakes in two unlisted Philippine companies: Food producer Century Canning Corp. and hospital group Metro Pacific Investment Corp.

China Sovereign Fund Managing Director Said to Plan Fund

Yu Bin, a former managing director at China’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to start a fund focused on Greater China equities, said three people with knowledge of the matter.

Chinese firm looks to buy big office complex in London

Beijing: China Investment Corp, (CIC) a USD 410 billion Chinese sovereign wealth fund has evinced interest in buying an 800 million pound (USD 1.3 billion) London office complex, in what could become the latest in an increasing number of international property deals by Chinese buyers.

UPDATE 2-China, Singapore wealth funds invest $1 bln in US LNG export plant-source

HONG KONG, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The sovereign wealth funds of China and Singapore have invested a combined $1 billion in a U.S. plant that will export cheap liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia, a source said, becoming the latest Asian institutions to tap into the gas boom in the United States.

Singapore's Temasek seeks investment in Europe, commodities

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings , whose portfolio swelled to a record in the last fiscal year, is looking to acquire assets in Europe and plough more money into energy and commodities after doubling its exposure to the sector.

China urges more "decisive action" on euro crisis

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said the euro zone finance ministers' decision to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to shore up its teetering banks was a welcome short-term fix, but urged the bloc to take more decisive action to safeguard longer term stability.

Exclusive: Singapore's Temasek: evolution not revolution

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Temasek Holdings, the smaller but more visible of Singapore's two sovereign funds, is moving into a new phase with its investment strategy, and could look more like Blackstone Group , another $160 billion institution, which has grown from a focused private equity firm to a global asset manager.

China wealth fund nears buying assets in Poland

WARSAW (Reuters) - China Investment Corp has signed a deal with Poland's foreign investment body PAIiIZ that could see China's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund snap up assets in the European Union's largest eastern member in the coming years.

China sovereign fund tipped to buy stake in Sberbank-paper

(Reuters) - China Investment Corp , the country's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, is tipped to buy a 5 percent stake in Sberbank , Russia's biggest lender, a Chinese newspaper reported, citing sources.

The 21st Century Business Herald reported that an unidentified investment bank that is arranging the partial privatisation of Sberbank has contacted CIC for a possible deal.

China wealth fund sees no need for new forex fund

BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- An executive with China Investment Corp., the country's sovereign wealth fund, said that he doesn't see a need for the country to set up any new foreign exchange-reserve investment funds, Caixin Media reported Friday on its website.

Jin Liqun, chairman of CIC's board of supervisors, said in a speech in Washington D.C that CIC has covering most investment sectors and has done a good job with its investments, Caixin reported.

China should cut dollars if U.S. too loose: sovereign fund

(Reuters) - China should sell dollars and diversify its foreign exchange reserves if the United States sticks to loose monetary policy, the head of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund said in an article published this week.

Lou Jiwei, chairman of the $300 billion China Investment Corp, also offered policy advice to the United States, saying the best course of action would be for it to tighten monetary conditions while ramping up stimulus spending.

He said the United States did not have much to gain from monetary easing, because little cash was entering the real economy and a large amount was leaving the country via dollar-funded carry trades.

Under such conditions, the dollar would steadily depreciate, and Asian economies and oil exporters might lose faith in it as a global reserve currency, he said.

"For China, the chief tools to reduce economic risks are to strengthen regulation of capital flows, control liquidity through cash management, monitor asset markets and divert foreign exchange reserves to non-dollar assets," Lou said.

The article was published this week as part of a book for the Second Summer Palace Dialogue, a meeting of American and Chinese economists that took place in Beijing.

It appeared that Lou had written the article at least several months earlier, but this was the first time that it had been published.

There is evidence that China has, in fact, stepped up its pace of foreign exchange diversification this year, cutting back its vast holdings of U.S. Treasuries and buying record amounts of Japanese and South Korean debt.

But Lou said that it was not too late for the dollar. A move toward tighter monetary policy would reduce expectations of depreciation, restrain the dollar-funded carry trade and support global financial stability, he said.

For the U.S. economy, tighter monetary policy could also pay unexpected dividends, he said.

"If the dollar carry-trade lessens and capital from Asian countries and oil-exporting countries continues to flow to the United States, then liquidity in the United States might even increase," he said.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: www.reuters.com