TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
PremjiInvest, the family office that manages over $10 billion for Indian software tycoon Azim Premji, will invest more money into artificial intelligence (AI) companies while fine-tuning its proprietary AI investment tools.
The company is among the first large Indian asset managers to use AI tools in the private equity space and is working on an AI quant model for its public market bets, TK Kurien, its managing partner and chief investment officer, said. The asset manager will also invest more in the AI space, he said.
Technology and financial services will be the top sectors in which PremjiInvest will be betting on, Kurien said. The firm also invests in the consumer and health care sector in India’s private markets. In the US, the investments are focused on health care and technology sectors.
Source: Bloomberg
Climate-focused investor Decarbonization Partners, a tie-up between Singapore’s Temasek and BlackRock, has raised a higher-than-targeted $1.4 billion for its first fund.
The venture and late-stage growth equity fund, which will focus on companies that can help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, has received investments from more than 30 institutional investors from 18 countries, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices, helping it pass a $1 billion target.
The fund, Decarbonization Partners Fund I, has already invested in seven companies including low-carbon hydrogen firm Monolith, biotechnology firm MycoWorks and electric battery material firm Group14.
Source: BlackRock
Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) will allocate 65% of its assets in risky assets under new long-term asset allocation rules, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) said on May 2.
“Going forward, the fund will keep the ratio of risky assets at 65% in its strategic asset allocations and invest in various kinds of alternative assets in a swift manner within the ratio to raise investment earnings,” the MHW said in a statement, after a meeting to review the fund’s investment strategy.
Until now, the NPS has allocated assets according to its five-year target ratios set for each asset and reviewed on an annual basis. NPS aims to raise investment returns and delay the depletion of the fund, currently expected to run out of funds by 2055 due to a fast-ageing population.
Source: MHW
OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS
AUSTRALIA
TelstraSuper, Australia’s largest corporate superannuation fund, is now in search of a merger partner according to an announcement on May 2.
The TelstraSuper Board has determined that its members’ interests will be best served in the long term by seeking a suitable merger partner aligned to the fund’s objectives and values.
The A$26 billion super fund was initially set up in 1990 exclusively for Telstra employees, but now has a much broader membership.
Today, less than one quarter of the fund’s 84,000 members work for Telstra which has led to the decision that TelstraSuper should move forward with a new separate identity.
Source: TelstraSuper
CHINA
Ping An Insurance Group, HSBC’s largest shareholder voted against the reappointment of departing Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn as a director, suggesting its disruptive campaign against the lender hasn’t yet run its course.
Ping An lodged a protest vote at Quinn’s leadership at the shareholder meeting of Europe’s largest bank on May 3, according to people familiar with the matter. The vote came days after he surprised the business world with the announcement of his retirement.
HSBC reported that 16% of the votes cast by investors had gone against Quinn. That is roughly equivalent to Ping An’s holding in the bank taking into account a turnout of about half.
Source: Bloomberg
HONG KONG
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)’s Exchange Fund posted an investment gain of HK$54.3 billion ($6.9 billion) in the first quarter, although it lost HK$2.3 billion in Hong Kong equities and HK$4.8 billion in its foreign exchange assets.
It was the second consecutive quarter of gains for the fund, whose primary role is to back the Hong Kong dollar.
The positive return was backed by the HK$25.1 billion gain in bond investments and HK$36.3 billion in other stocks.
Source: Hong Kong Monetary Authority
KOREA
A development consortium including the National Pension Service (NPS) and real estate manager Hines has got the planning green light for a trio of towers at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge in London.
The project involves building two residential towers of 40 and 22 storeys and an office building reaching 45 storeys and topping out at nearly 200m.
The consortium bought the 18 Blackfriars Road site in 2021. The brownfield site that has remained undeveloped for 20 years.
Source: Hines
Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund is looking to hire four managers for a W500 billion ($368.7 million) domestic fixed income mandate
The mutual aid, operated by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business also known as KBIZ, said the fund will primarily focus on Korean bonds, commercial paper, and digitally short-term binds.
The fund will have an investment period of up to three years.
Source: Yellow Umbrella
THAILAND
The Government Pension Fund (GPF) is increasing in gold and oil to mitigate risk and reduce investments that may be affected by war. The fund is also reducing investments in the capital market to some extent because of market uncertainties.
According to Songpol Chevapanyaroj, secretary-general of the GPF, 2024 will be a challenging year because of the risk of wards and elections in several countries, as well as uncertainty regarding interest rate directions.
GPF sees the US market as attractive given that the war in the Middle East will have minimal impact on the economy, Chevapanyaroj said. Furthermore, the US Federal Reserve’s delay in reducing interest rates implies a relatively healthy US economy with the stock market stabilising or improving, he added.
Source: Bangkok Post
MIDDLE EAST
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and BlackRock signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by which BlackRock will establish a Riyadh-based multi-asset class investment platform. It will be anchored by an initial investment mandate of up to $5 billion from PIF, subject to the achievement of agreed milestones between the parties.
BlackRock and PIF have expressed the intention to establish BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management (BRIM), which will encompass investment strategies across a range of asset classes, all of which are expected to be managed by a Riyadh-based portfolio management team and supported by BlackRock’s global asset management platform.
BRIM will seek to support foreign institutional investment into Saudi Arabia and develop the Saudi asset management industry; broaden local capital markets while driving investor diversification across asset classes; and facilitate knowledge sharing and the development of Saudi-based asset management talent.
Source: PIF
The above briefs have been curated from third-party sources and news releases.
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