SWF Radar

Thomson Investment Management reports (free subscription required) that, “The Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) re-capitalising subprime-hit Western banks are doing so with a political imperative which has yet to become clear, according to Ric Berman, chief executive officer of fund of hedge funds firm Signet Capital Management. Responding to questions at the Investing in Hedge Funds 2008 conference sponsored by the Securities and Investment Institute, Berman said: ‘I think there is a huge political process that is going on that we don’t know about that is supporting that [SWFs re-capitalising Western banks]. It is very clear that on pure financial grounds, some of the investments are questionable.’”