SWF Radar CIC

PRWeek reports that, “The world’s fourth largest sovereign wealth fund [China Investment Corporation (CIC)], with assets of more than £100bn, is trawling for London [public relations] agency support.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “U.S. private equity heavyweight Blackstone Group, in which China’s sovereign wealth fund [the China Investment Corporation (CIC)] holds a substantial stake, said on Monday it is opening an office in Beijing and hired a former government official as its chief representative there.”

Michael H. Cognato of the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) has published a paper (PDF) on the China Investment Corporation (CIC).

According to its intro page on the NBR site, “[Cognato’s] paper provides an analysis of the political and economic debates that led to the formation of CIC, outlines what is known about the corporation’s investment objectives and management structure, and details the domestic and foreign investments that CIC has undertaken to date. He also examines some of the specific concerns that have been raised about the potential risks posed by CIC to U.S. national interests and draws some preliminary conclusions about their validity.”

Michael McCormack, an executive director at Z-Ben Advisors, on Sunday had an article published at ChinaStakes.com that looks at China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), compares it with the China Investment Corporation (CIC) in the context of foreign investment, and discusses some of the issues raised by SAFE’s acting as a sovereign wealth fund.

Among other things, the article states that, “While most foreign governments accept that their peers will buy and sell their sovereign debt as an exchange management tool, they are unlikely to accept the danger that SAFE (or, indeed, similar investors) might also be tempted buy or sell company debt, shares, fund or index positions as part of that effort. Such fears makes it unclear that SAFE could pass regulatory tests designed to bar or restrict investors who have currency management responsibilities.”

The Triangle Business Journal reports that, “Duke University has named the head of China’s sovereign wealth fund to its board of trustees. The university said in a statement that Xi-Qing Gao has joined the board for a five-year term.”

The Sunday Telegraph reports that, “HSBC has held talks with China’s main sovereign investment fund [the China Investment Corp. (CIC)] over a potential investment in Europe’s largest bank, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.”

China Daily reports that, “China Central Huijin Investment Corp, the subsidiary of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund [the China Investment Corporation (CIC)], formed a new board of directors on Friday, appointing Lou Jiwei, former finance vice-minister, as its chairman.”

China International Business on Friday (July 18) published an up-to-date profile of the China Investment Corp. (CIC).

XFN-ASIA reports that, “China shares in Singapore ended the day sharply higher in a late reaction to reports that China’s sovereign wealth fund [the China Investment Corporation [CIC]) plans to invest in global equity markets, dealers said.”

Thomson Reuters reports that. “China’s sovereign wealth fund [the China Investment Corporation (CIC)] will soon invest in global equity markets, the official China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources.”