SWFI First Read, January 11, 2018

Published

3 months ago

January 11, 2018

South Korea Preps Ban for Cryptocurrency Trading, Still Needs Majority Vote

South Korea Justice Minister Park Sang-ki revealed the government was forming a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading. The country’s police and tax officials raided local exchanges over charges of alleged tax evasion. The bill requires a majority vote in Korea’s National Assembly.

Segall Bryant & Hamill Acquires Denver Investments

Chicago-based Segall Bryant & Hamill, LLC signed a deal to buy Denver Investments, an employee-owned investment firm founded in 1958. Denver Investments is the advisor for the Westcore Funds. RBC Capital Markets served as exclusive financial advisor to Denver Investments. Goodwin Proctor is acting as legal counsel to Segall Bryant & Hamill. Morgan Lewis is acting as legal counsel to Denver Investments.

Bank of Japan Cuts Back on Long-Date JGB Purchases

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) revealed its decision to cut back on its long-dated government bond purchases. On January 9, 2018, BOJ announced it would lower its buying of Japan government bonds (JGB) with maturities of 10–25 years to 190 billion JPY. BOJ is essentially cutting its purchases of JGBs within 10-25 years and those maturing in 25-40 years by 10 billion JPY each.

HSBC Nabs Nabi for Blockchain Expertise

Jason J. Nabi was hired by HSBC Securities Services as head of innovation. Nabi is an expert in blockchain technology. He is a member of the Post-Trade Distributed Ledger Working Group. Before this role at HSBC, he was Global Head of Business Development and Head of EMEA at Paxos, a financial technology company developing blockchain solutions for companies.

BVK Acquires Portfolio of Micro Housing Projects in Europe

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FIRRMA Bill is a Big Deal for Foreign Asset Owners

Published

15 hours ago

April 21, 2018

Site Director

The United States Treasury is analyzing options on further restricting investments into “sensitive” sectors, such as technology and defense, in the United States from Chinese state-owned capital. The U.S. Commerce Department, under the export control regime, banned U.S. companies from selling parts to ZTE Corporation, a Chinese telecommunications manufacturer, for seven years. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

AIMCo Posts 10.4% Return in 2017

Published

17 hours ago

April 21, 2018

Site Director

The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) posted its performance for the 12-month period trailing December 31, 2017, which saw its overall assets grow by 8.4% – or C$ 8.0 billion (US$ 6.1 billion) – to C$ 103.7 billion (US$ 82.3 billion). This represents returns net-of-fees on its C$ 88.2 billion (US$ 70.3 billion) worth of balanced fund investments in 2017 of 10.4%, against a 9.1% custom benchmark. Established in 2008, AIMCo represents the financial well-being of 32 pension, endowment, government, and specialty funds in the Canadian province of Alberta. This includes the Albert Heritage Fund.

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Mubadala Real Estate Targets JV Developers, Eyeing Local REIT Launch

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2018

Site Director

Mubadala Investment Company’s property arm is preparing to launch a local real estate investment trust (REIT) by 2020, and is currently in talks with several developers for international joint ventures on a plot-by-plot basis that are expected to be finalized in 2018, according to Ali Eid Al Mheiri, executive director of Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure. Ali Eid Al Mheiri is also Vice Chairman of ALDAR Properties PJSC and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Finance Company PJSC. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]