Paulson control over hotels affirmed

By Henny Sender in Hong Kong

Paulson & Co, the US hedge fund, has won a US court battle with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp over control of a group of luxury hotels that brings it closer to making potential windfall profits.

The Singapore sovereign wealth fund has been trying to wrest control of the hotels – originally part of the holdings of troubled Morgan Stanley real estate funds – from a group led by affiliates of Paulson & Co since early this year.

Hard Assets The Place To Be Following U.S. Credit Downgrade

Hard assets are the likely benefactors of the U.S. sovereign debt downgrade on Friday. U.S. Treasury debt was sent to the minor leagues on Friday by Standard & Poor’s and is now rated AA+.

Joel Smolen, hedge fund manager at Axion Capital in San Rafael, says hard assets like gold, silver and equities of mining and metals companies in countries like Australia and Brazil are the places to be following the U.S. credit downgrade.

BlackRock: Sovereign Wealth Funds Haven't Lost Faith In Euro

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Sovereign wealth funds and other big-money investors haven't lost faith in the euro and aren't showing signs of a dramatic move away from euro assets, a senior money manager at BlackRock Inc. (BLK) said Wednesday.

"Part of the reason the euro remains fairly entrenched is that there hasn't been a wholesale diversification away from the euro during this crisis," said Scott Thiel, chief investment officer of fixed income, said at a media briefing.

China’s sovereign-wealth fund faces old questions

By Li Qing

BEIJING ( Caixin Online ) — En route to another double-digit annual return, China’s sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp. (CIC) last year expanded long-term asset and direct investments while reducing the cash percentage of its global portfolio.

Also noted in CIC’s recently released financial report for 2010 — its third year in business — was a board of directors decision to set targets for cumulative, annual return rates. The board also decided to extend an investment assessment cycle to 10 years from five.

Nation feeds Gulf's appetite for ownership

IT WAS December last year, and the newly-minted Australia Gulf Council was ushering its first business mission through the Arab Gulf states, seeking key relationships with the ruling families and hoping to land trade and investment deals.

High-powered political cachet came from the former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke - a director on the council - and the steward of Australia's economic success for a decade, the former Liberal treasurer, Peter Costello. Senior executives on board had interests in banking, property, engineering, professional services, fast food, agribusiness and commodities. But the interest dominating their hosts' attention was clear - food security.