'Metaverse' hype fuels booming digital property market

PARIS, France - The idea of spending millions on non-existent land may sound ludicrous -- but feverish predictions of a virtual reality future are pushing investors to bet big on digital real estate.

This week, New York-based company Republic Realm announced it had spent a record-breaking $4.3 million on digital land through The Sandbox, one of several "virtual world" websites where people can socialise, play games and even attend concerts.

That came hot on the heels of a $2.4-million land purchase in late November on a rival platform, Decentraland, by Canadian crypto company Tokens.com. And days before that, Barbados announced plans to open a "metaverse embassy" in Decentraland. 

Such websites bill themselves as a prototype of the metaverse, a future internet where online experiences like chatting to a friend would eventually feel face-to-face thanks to virtual reality (VR) headsets. 

"Metaverse" has been a Silicon Valley buzzword for months, but interest soared in October after Facebook's parent company renamed itself "Meta" as it shifts its focus towards VR. 

The Facebook rebrand "introduced the term 'metaverse' to millions of people a lot faster than I would have ever imagined," said Cathy Hackl, a tech consultant who advises companies on entering the metaverse. 

According to crypto data site Dapp, land worth more than $100 million has sold in the past week across the four largest metaverse sites, The Sandbox, Decentraland, CryptoVoxels, and Somnium Space.

For Hackl, it's unsurprising that the market is booming, spawning an entire ecosystem around virtual real estate, from rents to land developers. 

"We're trying to translate the way we understand physical goods into the virtual world," she told AFP. 

And while it may be some time before these sites operate as true metaverses, transporting us elsewhere with VR goggles, digital land is already functioning as an asset just like real land, said Hackl.

"They can build on it, they can rent it out, they can sell it," she said.

'Fifth Avenue of the metaverse' 

Tokens.com has bought a prime patch in Decentraland's Fashion Street district, which the platform hopes to develop as a home for luxury brands' virtual stores.

"If I hadn't done the research and understood that this is valuable property, it would seem absolutely crazy," admitted Tokens.com CEO Andrew Kiguel.

Kiguel spent 20 years as an investment banker focused on real estate. He insists the Decentraland plot makes exactly the same kind of business sense as it would in the real world: it's in a trendy area with high footfall.

"That is advertising and event space where people are going to congregate," he explained, pointing to a recent virtual musical festival in Decentraland which attracted 50,000 visitors.

Luxury brands are already venturing into the metaverse -- a Gucci handbag sold on the Roblox platform in May for more than the real version -- and Kiguel hopes Fashion Street will become a shopping destination akin to New York's Fifth Avenue.

As for how the land could be used to make money, "it can be as simple as having a billboard, or it can be as complex as having a storefront with an actual employee," he said.

"You could walk in with your avatar and have 3D digital representations of a shoe that you can hold, and ask questions."

Second Life, rebooted 

As far back as 2006, a real estate developer made headlines after making $1 million from land sold on the virtual world site Second Life.

While Second Life remains active, proponents of its next-generation rivals point out a key difference.

In Decentraland, everything from land to virtual artwork comes in the form of a non-fungible token, or NFT. 

Some people have spent tens of thousands of dollars on these digital items, and the concept has generated scepticism as well as excitement. 

But Kiguel predicts this form of digital ownership will become widespread in the coming years, because the blockchain technology behind it creates trust and transparency when making transactions.

"I can see the ownership history, what's been paid for it and how it's been transferred around," he said. 

But the investment is not without its risks -- particularly given the volatility of the cryptocurrencies used to buy NFTs. 

And while virtual concerts on sites like Roblox and Fortnite have drawn tens of millions of viewers, the sparse data available suggests traffic on metaverses like Decentraland lags far behind that of established social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Ultimately the value of the land investments depends on whether people start flocking to these sites. 

"I know it all sounds quite ludicrous," said Kiguel. "But there's a vision behind it."

Agence France-Presse

Berkshire Hathaway takes stakes in Japanese trading houses

TOKYO (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said Monday it has taken stakes of just over 5% in five major Japanese trading houses in what it says is a long-term investment.

Share prices of the five huge companies surged between 4% to 9.5% on Monday in Tokyo after the company announced the investment.

Berkshire Hathaway said that its subsidiary National Indemnity Co. planned to notify regulators of the purchases that had been made over the past year.

The companies are Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp.


It said it might increase the stakes to up to 9.9% in any of the companies. It described them as “passive investments,” noting that the company has held similar holdings in Coca-Cola, for 32 years; American Express, for 29 years and credit ratings agency Moody’s, for 20 years.

“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan and the five companies we have chosen for investment,” Buffett said. “The five major trading companies have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely to have more of these partnerships. I hope that in the future there may be opportunities of mutual benefit.”

The powerful trading houses are some of Japan’s oldest and biggest companies and the anchors of vast industrial groups called keiretsu.

Although the Japanese economy has been growing slowly for most of the past two decades and has been in recession since late last year, major companies have invested on a global scale and are cash-rich.

They are also viewed as relatively undervalued, with price to earnings ratios, in most cases, well below the average for markets in the U.S. and Japan.

Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said the roughly $6 billion investment in the Japanese companies will allow Berkshire to profit when the economy performs well in the region.

“He found a very interesting way to invest in the broader trading activity in Asia and the south Pacific by investing in these companies,” Shanahan said.

Many investors follow what Berkshire buys and sells closely because of Buffett’s successful track record. Recently, Buffett has been criticized for not investing more of his company’s $147 billion cash during the market swoon that followed the coronavirus outbreak.

But Buffett has been more active this summer when Berkshire agreed to buy Dominion Energy’s natural gas pipeline and storage business for $4 billion, and he bought roughly $2.1 billion of Bank of America stock to give Berkshire control of nearly 12% of the bank’s stock.

Berkshire owns more than 90 companies, including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance and utility, furniture, manufacturing and jewelry businesses. The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate also has major investments in such companies as Apple, U.S. Bancorp, Costco and Kraft Heinz.

Associated Press

Chinese firm buys major stake in gay dating app Grindr

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Popular gay dating application Grindr said Monday that it has hooked up with Chinese online game titan Beijing Kunlun Tech.

Grindr said in a blog post that it has taken on a “majority investment” from Beijing Kunlun Tech Co., referring readers to a New York Times story pegging the stake at 60 percent and valuing the almost seven-year-old start-up at $155 million.

It should help Grindr compete in the increasingly competitive online dating market, and will give Beijing Kunlun an opening to spread beyond online gaming, as well as outside of China.

It was not immediately clear whether Beijing Kunlun intends to take Grindr to the market in China, where attitudes towards homosexuality — long taboo in the country — are slowly changing.

Grindr founder and chief executive Joel Simkhai touted the investment as “a huge vote of confidence in our vision to connect gay men to even more of the world around them.”

Grindr opened the door for the investment to accelerate growth and improve the mobile application for its “millions of users,” according to Simkhai.

The amount invested was not disclosed. Simkhai founded Grindr with his own money and he said that this is the first time it has raised money from an outside investor.

“It will generally be business as usual for us here at Grindr, but with a renewed sense of purpose and additional resources to deliver a great product to you,” Simkhai said.

Los Angeles-based Grindr was founded in 2009 and the gay dating application — versions of which are tailored for Apple or Android devices — is reportedly used in 196 countries.

The application lets users see pictures of other users and then lets them connect by sharing locations, photos or messages.

source: interaksyon.com

Should You Pay Off Student Loans Before Investing?

Millennials who have been out of college for a few years are starting to wonder if they should start investing before they’ve paid off their student loans. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but each person should be able find the best path forward.

Investment and debt-repayment are two sides of the same coin. Most people with student loan debt pay interest and annual fees totalling 4-6% of the balance of their loans. This is in addition to the premium payments made every month. This percentage is a loan’s APR, and it is an immovable object. Unless you look into student loan refinancing, this APR represents the annual cost of the money you borrowed for your graduation. This rate will stay the same for the entire term of your loan.

Investment portfolios bring in returns that vary year by year. If the economy is active and healthy, you could see returns of 7-9% or even more. Some years see investors receiving enormous returns that far exceed 10%. The thing is, these returns are unpredictable. Unlike your student loan APR which never changes, investment returns go all over the place. Some years, your portfolio may even lose money.

In years where your investment return percentage exceeds your loan APR, you will make more money than you lose, making investment a worthy pursuit, even if you haven’t paid off your student loans yet. But on years where your portfolio brings in less money than you lose in student loan interest payments, your investments won’t be “worth it” in a way that is easy to appreciate.

However, investing has one advantage that makes this decision a little more complicated than subtracting interest payments from investment returns. When people start investing at an early age, compound interest kicks in earlier, greatly amplifying the overall growth potential of your investments over your lifetime.

Most readers will already be familiar with this concept, but it’s worth a review. If you make regular payments into an investment account for your whole life without withdrawing funds, the dividends that your portfolio earns will also be added to the pot. In this way, a successful investment pays into itself. This creates a snowball effect. As time goes on, you’ve got more money, so it grows faster, so it gives off higher returns, which makes your money, which can then grow faster, etc.

With compound interest, the sooner you begin the better. Therefore, a lot of advisors consider it prudent to start investing as soon as possible, even if the return you expect from your investment is nearly equal to your student loan APR.

However, you shouldn’t begin investing if you don’t have certain financial details worked out. If you have no savings to cover you if you lost your job or experienced a personal emergency, you shouldn’t put aside money to invest. Instead, create an emergency fund. You may also have personal preferences that motivate you to pay off your student loans as soon as possible. Some people find a lot of personal comfort in being debt free, and may invest with more fervor once the debt is cancelled. Finally, explore investment acceleration options, like employer matched 401(k)s.

Hopefully this has given you a clear way of figuring out how to prioritize your investments and student loan repayment. Simply giving these concepts clever consideration indicates that you are careful about your money, a trait which will serve you well for life, long after your student loans are paid off.

Photo Source

source: modestmoney.com

Angela Merkel lands in India, with trade high on the agenda

NEW DELHI, India - German Chancellor Angela Merkel landed in New Delhi late Sunday for a visit in which she is expected to push for closer trade ties, and during which India's leader hopes to draw investment from the European powerhouse.

Briefly leaving behind a refugee crisis in Europe, Merkel arrived with a delegation including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German business leaders for her first visit to India since the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power last year.

"Namaste Chancellor Merkel! Warm welcome to you & the delegation. I look forward to fruitful discussions & strengthening India-Germany ties," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter.

She will meet with Modi, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday before she heads to the southern technology hub of Bangalore for a businness conference the next day.

Modi and Merkel will hold talks on "issues of mutual interest", including trade, defence and renewable energy, according to the Indian foreign ministry.

The two are likely to discuss resuming stalled India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations -- a market-opening pact to boost bilateral commerce.

German investments in India stand at 9.7 billion euros with about 1,600 companies in the country.

Modi officially visited Germany in April when he sought to attract more industries to set up shop in Asia's third-largest economy for his flagship "Make in India" campaign and boost the manufacturing sector.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook, Xiaomi discussed possible investment in the Chinese smartphone maker – sources

HONG KONG/BEIJING — Mark Zuckerberg and Xiaomi Inc CEO Lei Jun discussed a potential investment by Facebook in China’s top smartphone maker ahead of its $1.1 billion fundraising last month, but a deal never materialized, several people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The discussions, at a private dinner when Zuckerberg visited Beijing in October, were never formalised, three of those people said, as the two CEOs weighed the political and commercial implications of Facebook – which has been banned in China since 2009 – buying into the Chinese tech star now valued at $45 billion.

One individual with direct knowledge of Xiaomi’s fundraising said the mooted Facebook investment was “not huge”, but the talks underscore how ties between U.S. and Chinese companies have deepened as China’s tech industry matures.

A Facebook investment in Xiaomi would have raised the international profile of the popular handset maker dubbed “China’s Apple” by its fans and linked it to a U.S. social networking phenomenon with more than 1.3 billion users.

Facebook, for its part, has long harboured ambitions to expand into the world’s most populous country, potentially with partners. One of the individuals said Facebook and Xiaomi began discussing a possible investment in mid-2014.

Xiaomi’s Lei was partly put off by the potential for political fallout at home of selling a stake to Facebook while the U.S. social network is still banned in China, two of the people said, adding Xiaomi also feared a tie-up with Facebook could threaten its relationship with Google Inc, a crucial business partner. Xiaomi’s phones are built on Google’s Android operating system.

Xiaomi ultimately announced last month it raised $1.1 billion from investors including Hong Kong-based tech fund All Stars Investment; DST Global, a private equity firm that has invested in Facebook and Alibaba Group; Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC; Chinese fund Hopu Management; and Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital.

The fundraising valued Beijing-based Xiaomi at $45 billion just three years after it sold its first smartphone. The company had revenue of close to $12 billion in 2014.

Zuckerberg has eyed China as a critical piece of his vision to connect the global population. But, like Google and Twitter, the social networking giant has been blocked by China’s internet censors, who cite national security concerns.

“Facebook wants to get into China, and Xiaomi is keen to expand outside, so they both recognise the importance of working together,” said one of the knowledgeable individuals, none of whom wanted to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Xiaomi and Facebook declined to comment for this article.

The two CEOs knew each other previously and deepened their relationship last year. In October, Zuckerberg was invited for dinner at Lei’s Beijing home along with Facebook business development chief John Lagerling and China head Vaughan Smith.

The next day, Zuckerberg, whose wife is Chinese-American, addressed the prestigious Tsinghua University and won plaudits for speaking in Mandarin during a 30-minute Q&A session.

As Xiaomi sought financing last year, ICONIQ Capital, a San Francisco-based fund that manages several individuals’ personal wealth, including Zuckerberg’s, also considered buying shares, but ultimately did not, several people with knowledge of the matter said. Talks about ICONIQ taking part in Xiaomi’s financing were not led by Zuckerberg himself.

ICONIQ declined to comment.

Called off

Xiaomi is China’s biggest smartphone maker, according to some industry analysts, and trails only Samsung Electronics and Apple in global market share.

A strategic partnership with Xiaomi would give Facebook

another avenue to distribute its apps and potentially provide a powerful ally in its bid to overturn its China ban.

For Xiaomi, access to Facebook’s vast banks of user data would be valuable as it seeks to grow into a global internet company providing comprehensive online services.

But Lei thought it would be “too sensitive” to sell an equity stake to Facebook given its uncertain political status in China, said one of the people with knowledge of the matter.

China’s top internet censor, Lu Wei, has warned that social media, particularly foreign services, could be a destabilising force for Chinese society. Lu, however, visited Facebook’s U.S. headquarters last month, prompting speculation that relations between Facebook and China’s government were warming.

source: interaksyon.com

LeBron James in talks with David Beckham about investing in MLS team

MIAMI – NBA superstar LeBron James confirmed Monday that he is in talks with England football icon David Beckham about investing in a possible Major League Soccer expansion club for Miami.

James, who has led the Miami Heat to the past two NBA titles, told the Miami Herald that he has spoken with Beckham about the project. James owns a small share of English Premier League side Liverpool.

“There is some interest on both sides,” James said. “David has become a good friend of mine over the last few years and I think it would be great for this city to have a football club. There is interest on both sides, but it’s preliminary talks but there is some open dialogue.”

Beckham, who recently retired as a player, has been exploring the possibility of owning an MLS club. The chance to grab a team for a discounted rate was reportedly part of the contract that lured the former Manchester United star midfielder to the MLS Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid.

But time to make a deal for a team is said to be running out, possibly by the end of the year.

The MLS had a Miami team, the Fusion, from 1998 through 2001 before it folded and James said the level of support from the Miami market is still being explored.

“We don’t know (the potential),” James said. “The research is still being made out but I think it could be huge. You never know. I think this is a great town for soccer. There are a lot of soccer players here. There is a great youth (organization) of soccer here. And people love the city as well, so that definitely will help.”

Beckham has become a familiar face at Heat games and James has enjoyed a growing interest in football, even hyping his connections to the sport via video games in an advertisement, since his role in Fenway Sports Group gave him a piece of Liverpool.

“I have grown a great interest in watching the game and learning it and it is a pretty intense sport,” James said. “And my kids love it as well. But I have grown to the point where I know exactly what’s going on when I’m watching the game.”

James has spent time touring Liverpool facilities and meeting players.

Stephen Ross, owner of the NFL Miami Dolphins, has reportedly shown interest in partnering with Beckham as well.

A crowd of 71,124 — the largest ever for a football match in Florida — attended a Brazil 5-0 friendly win over Honduras last Saturday.

But James says Miami actually obtaining an MLS club is far from a done deal despite the superstar leverage behind the project.

“We don’t know,” James said. “It’s like buying a house. You don’t know until you sign the papers.”

source: interaksyon.com

'Hot money' flows back in Sept amid Philippines' robust economy

MANILA - The Philippines enjoyed significant inflows of "hot money" last month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said today.

In a report, the BSP said the country saw $2.691 billion in net inflows of foreign portfolio investment in September, up 72 percent from the $1.5 billion in the same month last year.

This led to net inflows of $2.691 billion in the January to September period, ahead of the $2.649 billion in the same nine-month period last year.

Unlike job-creating foreign direct investments (FDI), portfolio funds are invested in financial assets, such as shares in Philippine listed firms and government IOUs. Portfolio investments are also called "hot money" because they flee at the slightest negative news.

The BSP attributed the increase in portfolio funds last month to "the recognition of the country's sound macroeconomic fundamentals and record growth in the first two quarters of this year." To recall, the Philippine economy grew at a record 7.5 percent in the first half of this year, higher than the government's full-year goal of 6-7 percent and the fastest in Asia alongside China.

Hot money in September went to Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE)-listed securities at $1.8 billion; peso government securities, $714 million; and peso time deposits, $52 million. The main beneficiaries for PSE-listed securities consist of holding firms, banks, property firms, information technology companies, and utilities.

The top five investor countries last month were Singapore, the United Kingdom, the US, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong with a combined share of 84.4 percent.

source: interaksyon.com

Emerging countries must be able to control capital flows -- study

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming - Emerging market nations can be adversely affected by large swings in investment and, therefore, must develop tools to control credit flows or risk relinquishing any independent monetary policy, a study shows.

These findings were presented at the Kansas City Federal Reserve's monetary policy symposium at Jackson Hole, which highlighted the global impact of the unconventional monetary policy of the United States and other major central banks.

Many countries, including India and Brazil, have recently experienced steep sell-offs in their currencies, linked in part to the prospect that the Fed might soon dial down the pace of its bond-buying monetary stimulus.

The Jackson Hole study highlights a shift in conventional economic thinking, which used to champion an open flow of money between countries, regardless of the consequences.

"Macroprudential policies are necessary to restore monetary policy independence for the non‐central countries," wrote Helene Rey, professor at the London Business School. "They can substitute for capital controls, although if they are not sufficient, capital controls must also be considered."

That, said the study, is because countries with floating exchange rates, the dominant global practice, would be abdicating their control over interest rates and credit creation from sources outside their control.

"Independent monetary policies are possible if - and only if - the capital account is managed, directly or indirectly, via macroprudential policies," Rey said. These can take many forms, including efforts to restrain credit growth in particular areas of the economy.

"Since, for a country, the most dangerous outcome of inappropriately loose global financial conditions is excessive credit growth, a sensible policy option is to monitor directly credit growth and leverage in each market," she said.

Terrence Checki, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, charged with commenting on the paper, pushed back against the notion that rich-country central banks should start paying more attention to the international effects of their policies.

He said that, in keeping with conventional wisdom at the Fed, monetary policy should be aimed at domestic objectives.

"It's not clear we can control the financial cycle very well with monetary policy," Checki said.

source: interaksyon.com

Settle Debts Before Investing?

Question: Hi Rose. I enjoy reading your FQ and parenting articles. I also want to start investing now but I think I have to settle my debts first. What do you think? – J.N. via email

Answer: Hi J.N. Yes I agree with you. If you have been carrying debts, which cost you money, the first step is to pay them off. Think of it this way, if you’re able to pay off your credit card debts that charge 3.5% per month, you just “earned” yourself an annual return of 42%! Where can you find an investment return like that?

Sometimes people are also afraid to touch their Emergency Fund to pay off their credit card debts because they want the security of having ready cash for emergency. However, please remember that while your credit card charges you 42% p.a. your Emergency Fund, even if kept in money market placements, only gives you around 2-3% p.a. So pay those loans, then start building your Emergency Fund again. If you have an existing home mortgage with a decent interest rate of 5 to 5.5% p.a., then I think you don’t have to wait to fully pay that before you can start investing. Just make sure that you pay your mortgage on time so you don’t incur penalties and other charges.

I am preparing for a half-day workshop this week for the employees of a government agency. The Human Resources Director asked me to tackle the issue on debt management because she knows that a lot of their employees have debt problems.

She shared with me that their salaries are still given in cash instead of direct credit to employee ATM accounts. When I suggested that they shift to direct credit system in order to nudge their employees to save, she said, “We’re concerned that they might pawn their ATM cards!” I was surprised to hear this and learn that this has become a common practice among people who are living from paycheck to paycheck.

The Origin of Debt:



To know more about debt, I did some research on the origin of debt. I found this book entitled Debt: The First 5,000 Years by anthropologist David Graeber. His interesting theory is that debt originated as early as 3500 B.C., long before the advent of coinage or money in 600 B.C., refuting the traditional explanation for the origins of monetary economies from primitive bartering system as laid out by Adam Smith, the father of modern economics.

I’m not yet done reading the book but it promises to be an interesting read as it talks about how throughout our history indebtedness has led to unrest, insurrections and revolts. The morality of debt is also discussed – how people mired in debt would resort to using their children as payment; how the IMF and the big banks convinced the Third World dictators and politicians to take out loans (while pocketing some in their Swiss accounts) whose interest rates later on skyrocketed leading to the Third World Debt Crisis in the 80s; how the sub-prime lending era crafted mortgages that makes default inevitable, taking bets on these defaults and selling them to institutional investors, turning over the responsibility of paying off debts to giant insurance conglomerates and eventually being bailed out by taxpayers.

What we can gather from this data so far is that debt is really something to be careful with, both on a personal and national/international basis. Inasmuch as it can help us enjoy big-ticket items like buying a house or expanding our business, growing our country without having to put up 100% of cash required, mismanagement can also make life miserable. I’m glad that you intend to pay off your debts now.

Ways to pay off your debts:


The most cost-efficient way to retire your debts is to pay off those which carry high financing cost. And since front-end fees would have been paid by now, these are the loans that carry the highest interest rates. Always make sure you compare the rates on a per annum (p.a.) basis.

However, since handling money is not all about math but has a lot to do about emotions, there are a lot of proponents of the so-called Debt Snowball Method. This method, popularized by Dave Ramsey, advises you to pay off the loan with the smallest outstanding balance first, on to the bigger ones until you pay off all loans. The primary advantage of this method is the psychological contentment that you will feel as you tick off debts from your list. So the smaller the debt, the easier and sooner you can pay it off. You’ll feel the progress more in doing this and give you optimism and drive to pursue until all debts are paid off.

Check which one works for you. As I’ve discussed in previous articles, humans are not always rational and we should work out systems for ourselves such that we move towards our goals more successfully.

May I also remind you not to incur new debts? Review and reflect on how you got into indebtedness so you know what to avoid. Remember debt is bondage. The sooner you get out of it, the closer you move towards your financial freedom. Continue to read up on investing. The more you know about it, the more excited you will be to start the adventure, the more motivated you’ll be to pay off your debts.


Quotes on Debt:

Let me end with some quotes on debts that may be good for you to ponder upon.

“Wars in old times were made to get slaves. The modern implement of imposing slavery is debt.” - Ezra Pound

“If you have debt I’m willing to bet that general clutter is a problem for you too.” - Suze Orman

“In the long run we shall have to pay our debts at a time that may be very inconvenient for our survival.” - Norbert Wiener

“One of the greatest disservices you can do a man is to lend him money that he can’t pay back.” - Jesse Jones

“Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.” - Henry Wheeler Shaw

“Debt is the secret foe of thrift, as vice and idleness are its open enemies.”-James H. Aughey

“It is poor judgment to countersign another’s note, to become responsible for his debts.” - Bible

“If I owe you a pound, I have a problem; but if I owe you a million, the problem is yours.” - John Maynard Keynes

I wish you freedom from debt soon and financial happiness.

Sincerely,

Rose

source: philstar.com

5 Golden Rules For Investing In Annuity

Regardless of your age, your retirement is something that should never be too far away from your thoughts. But as you begin to reach a ‘certain age’, the importance that your pension holds and the role it will play in your future becomes a much more real prospect.

The earlier you start a pension fund, the greater the rewards. But, the tick-tocking of retirement draws closer, people begin to look at making investments to help bolster their pension pot. One concept many people consider is finding an annuity payment. This pays a guaranteed income for life, but is subject to varying interest rates.

To Risk Or Not To Risk?

Knowing what options are available to you will help put you in great stead when it comes to making the most of your hard earned cash. With this in mind, it is always worth seeking the expert of advice of a specialist financial advisor. Using their experience and expertise, they will be able to guide you in finding the right financial retirement plan.

The recent low level of annuity interest rates has seen many people lose out on their investments. This means the amount of guaranteed income paid that can be purchased from a pension fund is at its lowest ever level. This only emphasises the need for investors to consider their options in even more detail.

So if you’re considering investing through annuity, what things must you consider?

Golden Rule #1

Ensure that you have other sources of income or capital to fall back on. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. In today’s climate, there is no guarantee that annuity rates will improve should your decision be deferred so it’s important be stable should your future income fall in value.

Golden Rule #2

Make sure you understand the risks that are involved with your chosen annuity investment. Investments can come with a number of possible outcomes and inconsistent variables so be sure that you fully understand your investment and its consequences

Golden Rule #3

Make sure you have considered all options available to you. The beauty of retirement is that it can be what you make it and, depending on your income, there are a number of options you can opt for.

Golden Rule #4

A risk is a risk for a reason. Many people facing retirement face what is called a ’risk paradox’ between option of guaranteed annuity no longer proving a just investment due to rising inflation. Not only that, your personal circumstances may change, opening up a number of possibilities for you to consider.

Golden Rule #5

Acquire the services of a retirement specialist financial advisor. With their experience and expertise in retirement planning and the options available to you, they will be able to offer guidance on how to invest your money. They will take the time to understand you, your financial situation and your retirement plans before suggesting the most beneficial and secure route.

Make The Most Of Your Retirement

By following these golden rules, you will be able to make the most of your pension pot, giving you the options to plan the retirement you deserve.

source: everythingfinanceblog.com

FMIC eyes P50 billion worth of IPO deals in 2H

MANILA - The investment banking arm of Metrobank is participating in the initial public offering (IPO) of four companies that have a combined value of P50 billion.

On the sidelines of the PDS Annual Awards Night on Thursday, Roberto Juanchito Dispo, First Metro Investment Corp (FMIC) president, said the companies that intend to go public this year are in the financial, property, oil and petroleum sectors.

"We're the darling of the foreign investors. We have solid macroeconomic fundamentals. There is strong domestic liquidity. The market is liquid and investors are looking for yields and returns and the equity market is the best option," Dispo said.

He expects more maiden share sales and follow-on offerings to happen in the third and fourth quarters, contributing to another record year for the Philippine equity market.

This year, the Philippine Stock Exchange expects to match the record P219.07-billion raised in 2012 at the local bourse through IPOs, follow-on offerings, stock rights and private placements.

"As for bond issuances, there will be a lot of refinancing brought about by the new regulation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue taxing corporate notes structure. Most issuers are converting notes structure to bonds," Dispo said.

FMIC cornered 60.5 percent of the total capital market transactions amounting to P625.6 billion in 2012.

The investment bank grew its consolidated net income by 41 percent to hit P3.1 billion in 2012 from P2.2 billion a year ago, driven by higher contributions of its treasury, investment banking and investment advisory businesses.

It bagged the Cesar E.A. Virata Award for the Best Securities House for 2012-Investment House Category.

source: interaksyon.com

Unit of Andrew Tan holding firm seeks creditor consent for change in debt terms

MANILA - A wholly owned unit of Alliance Global Group Inc is seeking the consent of its creditors to amend the terms and conditions of its Singapore Exchange-listed notes.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the holding firm of Andrew Tan said Alliance Global Group Cayman Islands Inc is inviting holders of its $500-million guaranteed debt papers to approve the proposal to amend the financial covenants and related definitions in the terms and conditions of the notes in the trust deed dated August 18, 2010.

Alliance Global is modifying the terms to "afford greater flexibility for the issuer, the guarantor and its subsidiaries to carry out their business strategies in light of expected expansion and investment opportunities in the Philippines in the near-term; make other necessary clarificatory modifications; and generally align the financial covenants and related provisions more closely to market standard forms."

The Alliance Global unit will seek the approval of note holders on March 22.

The listed Philippine conglomerate guaranteed the notes, which have a coupon rate of 6.5 percent and will mature in 2017.

Alliance Global will hike its capital spending to more than P40 billion in 2013 to bankroll the expansion of its real estate, food and beverage, quick service restaurants and tourism ventures.

The conglomerate owns Megaworld Corp and Emperador Distillers, which produces Emperador, Generoso and Emperador Light brandies and a line of flavored alcoholic beverages called The Bar.

Alliance Global also controls Golden Arches Development Corp, which holds the local franchise of McDonald’s.

The conglomerate also owns Global-Estate Resorts Inc and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc in a partnership with Genting Hong Kong. Travellers operates Resorts World Manila, the first integrated tourism estate in the country.

source: interaksyon.com

Building Wealth When the Economy is Slow

Just because the economy in our nation is going through a little bit of turmoil, that does not mean that we have to be all doom and gloom about the world. Don't watch the news if you can't stomach the headlines. Why should you get pulled into all the negativity about how our economy is going down the drain? The truth is, there is another side of the issue that we never really hear about: There are people in our economy right now that are getting rich. There are other people who are currently positioning themselves in such a way that they can prosper heavily as soon as the economy begins to swing back into our favor, a growth cycle. There are a wide variety of different ways that you can make this happen, meaning that building wealth is possible even when the economy is down, or slow.

Although it may be rarely discussed in the mainstream media, there are actually good investments out there in this economy of ours. There are always going to be ways for you to invest in such a way that you can earn a solid return, no matter what cycle of the economy we are currently experiencing. There is absolutely no doubt that there are people right now who are in trouble, but not everyone is in trouble, and some people ARE making it big. We are hearing plenty of news about people being laid off, and unemployment numbers climbing, so how can we find out about what investments are still viable in this economy of ours? Here is a hint: Think about things that people need, or think about what people perceive that they actually need. People are still buying cosmetics, and people are still buying alcoholic beverages, for example, even when the economy is down. In other words, you can invest in the things that aren't going away no matter how bad the economy seems to get.

You should also consider investing in companies that will help you save money on things like transportation, energy, food or entertainment. People are always looking for possibilities for stretching their dollars further, especially when it comes to buying things they need, or simply buying the things that they believe that they need.

Before you put your money into the investment ideas mentioned above, keep this in mind: You will do well to invest in these things now, but you would have done better by investing a year ago to two years ago, because then you could be selling your investments at a much higher point than now. You could be taking serious profits on the sales you made, re-investing the profits into the other businesses that are recession proof in nature accordingly. This really is not a difficult concept, so start taking advantage of it today.

source:  richcreditdebtloan.com

Baby J. Now Has a Net Worth!

Awww yeahhhhhh! Go Baby $ Go Baby $ Go! Or is he Baby J. now? I dunno… Either way, he’s a baby with over $3,000 to his name now! ;) He just opened up his first two financial accounts and I can tell by the way he’s looking at me now that he’s feeling pretty good about it, haha…

1st Account: Savings – $605.01

We had been collecting a few checks that people have sent over when he was born, and it only recently occurred to me that we couldn’t cash them! We have no accounts with the baby’s name on it, haha… Oops. It never crossed my mind until I sat down to deposit them (which is kinda weird, really). But we cleared that up real fast with a quick call to USAA, naturally, and 3 minutes later he had his first official account – Woohoo!

$350 of it came from my winnings of Ramit’s $1,000 Giveaway the other month (I was going to put it into Baby J’s college account, but decided to *match* it instead. Something I’m thinking of doing in the future when he’s old enough to start being taught about money :)), and the rest from friends and family. Not too bad for a 4-month old! That’s more than a lot of people keep in savings unfortunately :(

2nd Account: A College Savings 529 Plan – $2,500.00

I finally decided to make a decision one way or the other with saving for his college, and we went with our state’s 529 plan because they allow you to deduct up to $2,500 a year of what you put in! Which is FREE money right off the bat – making our decision much easier in the end :)

I had originally thought we’d just open one up with USAA so I could have everything in one spot which I thoroughly enjoy, but it turns out you have to do it with whatever financial institution the State has set it up with. Which unfortunately is not USAA… But that’s fine, the money saved with taxes totally makes up for it. At least for as long as we live here (once/if we move, I’ll then see what *that* state offers and if it’s equally good I’ll just roll it all over into a new one with them. And if it sucks, I’ll then go with USAA until/if w move again… No point in throwing away free and EASY money, right?)

And then once we decided on opening the account, it was hard of course to *only* put in the $350 I  had initially set aside for it (that same one from Ramit’s Giveaway I won), so we just said “F it” and poured the full $2,500 into it so that we can max out those tax benefits for the 2012 year. It’s just SO HARD to pass up deals like that! Especially since we have the money sitting there in our Savings just doing nothing… It would be a different story if we didn’t have those reserves and another great reminder of how cash gives you OPTIONS later! It may sit there waiting for opportunities for a little time, but then when you’re ready to move you can just jump right in and work it :)


So Baby Money starts his life out with a few grand to his name! We’ll probably end up doing automatic deposits of $200/mo starting in 2013 to hit our $2,500 goal going forward as well. It’s not the $400/mo or so that “professionals” recommend (ya know, cuz college will be like $3 Billion dollars for everyone then), but it’s a good enough start for now… Maybe we’ll get lucky and our investments will return 15%+ a year to make up for it ;)

Oh, and speaking of which, I just chose one of those Target Date funds for now where all the money will be going… I thought of picking one of the more aggressive stocks-only plans, but I know the wife would worry about it too much so we’re going the more safer route instead ;) Only time will tell if it worked! (And we can change it once a year if we decide to too, which is nice)

Now a question for you: Should we include this in *our* Net Worth updates going forward? Or no?

I know this post is all about the baby having his own net worth and all that, haha, but I’m wondering if it makes sense to still keep it in ours instead? Since really it’s our money that’s allocated to him for later use? (Except for gifts that were directly for him, of course)

I guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world to start tacking two net worths going forward, but I just can’t tell which side makes the most sense anymore… I mean, if  he never uses the college money for whatever reason, wouldn’t it still be OURS? To either give to someone else or cash in and take the penalty hits? My brain hurts from thinking about it… Curious to see what YOU would do.

source: budgetsaresexy.com

Five Money-Losing Investments by NFL Players

Financial boo-boos of NFL players

NFL players make the same kinds of financial mistakes regular people make. They live beyond their means, become victims of Ponzi schemes and make risky investments.





Click ahead to read about the money mistakes of five current and former NFL players and what you can learn from them.

John Elway tackled by Ponzi scheme

Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway often escaped trouble on the field. But in 2010, Elway and a business partner invested $15 million with a hedge-fund manager who was arrested on charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme, The Denver Post reported. Elway lost $3 million.

Athletes can fall victim to Ponzi schemes if they do a poor job vetting the people who are handling their investments, says Michael Chasnoff, chief executive of Truepoint Inc., a wealth management company in Cincinnati.

Athletes often think they can trust the person investing their money if he or she was recommended by someone the athlete respects.

Investors have to perform their own due diligence no matter how much they trust the person who recommends an investment adviser, Chasnoff says.

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors offers a questionnaire to help investors interview potential advisers. Before signing on, an investor should also contact the adviser's other clients as a reference.

Look for advisers who are known in the community and give back to the community through charities or nonprofit groups. "They are usually very professional, high-integrity people," Chasnoff says.

Car dealership trips up Deuce McAllister

Former New Orleans Saints running back Dulymus Jenod "Deuce" McAllister had more success on the field than he did selling cars. In 2009, Nissan sued McAllister's car dealership in federal district court for the return of vehicles valued at almost $5.7 million. Soon after, the dealership filed for bankruptcy.

"It's basically the tough economic times that we're in," McAllister told The Associated Press.

Benjamin F. Renzo, author of "Hall of Fame: How to Manage Financial Success as a Professional Athlete," is a big proponent of athletes trying to build successful businesses.

Even so, a lot of players don't hire advisers who understand the risks of starting a business, Renzo says. Some athletes have their agents advise them on these issues. But they're not qualified to give financial advice.

Athletes should invest only what they can afford to lose. Private investments should only make up about 10% to 15% of an athlete's investing net worth, Chasnoff says.

"You don't want to be swinging for the fences," Chasnoff says. "It's not a prudent way to go about accumulating wealth."

Mark Brunell invests heavily in real estate

New York Jets backup quarterback Mark Brunell filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010. He owes $7.4 million.

Brunell was forced to file for bankruptcy because of two failed business partnerships. These included a real estate development company called Champion LLC and a partnership that invested in 12 Whataburger restaurant franchises in the Jacksonville area, according to The Florida Times-Union.

When investing in real estate or a real estate development company, an athlete needs to be able to finance it for five to 10 years to give the business time to get off the ground, Chasnoff says.

A good rule of thumb on any investment is to spend as much time thinking about what will happen if it fails as you do thinking about what will happen if it succeeds, he says.

Drew Bledsoe loses on technology investment

In 2008, former NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe and some other current and former players sued UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services Inc. Bledsoe invested in a startup company called Pay by Touch through UBS, according to lawsuit filed by the players in Superior Court in San Francisco.

Bledsoe and the other plaintiffs allege that UBS concealed the past legal troubles of the founder of Pay By Touch. Pay By Touch was developing technology to allow people to use a fingerprint to pay for things with a credit card rather than having to actually swipe the card.

"(John P.) Rogers had such a detailed history of criminal and civil misconduct and tax evasion prior to his involvement with Pay By Touch that any knowledge of this would have warned investors," the lawsuit states.

source: foxbusiness.com

Foreign debt inches down to $62.5-B at end-June

MANILA - The Philippines foreign debt fell slightly to US$62.5 billion at end-June this year from $62.9 billion at end-March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Friday.

In a statement, the BSP said the country brought down its external debt because of the lower borrowings of the private sector and the national government vis-à-vis the loan repayments made. This resulted in net repayments of $850 million.

The country's foreign debt also dipped with the audit adjustments of $116 million, partially offset by the weakening of the US dollar against the yen and the increased investments of foreign nationals in Philippine debt papers reaching $72 million.

Year-on-year, the country's foreign debt stock inched up 1.7 percent due to net availments of $172 million and $1 billion worth of investments by non-residents in Philippine debt papers, indicating strong and sustained investor confidence in the country.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook ‘founders’ invest in social network company: report

NEW YORK — The Winklevoss twins, best known for their legal battle against Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook Inc, have invested in SumZero, a social network company aimed at professional investors, The Wall Street Journal said on Sunday.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have put $1 million into SumZero, which was founded by fellow Harvard University alumni Divya Narendra and Aalap Mahadevia in 2008, the article said. Narendra was an ally to the Winklevoss twins during their lawsuit against Facebook, which won the brothers a cash and stock settlement valued at $65 million at a time when the company was valued at $15 billion.

Facebook’s market cap is currently valued at $47 billion.

In June 2011, the twins decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a ruling upholding their $65 million settlement.

The 2008 accord was intended to resolve a feud over whether Zuckerberg stole the idea for what became the world’s most popular social networking website from the Winklevosses, who like him, had attended Harvard. Their battle was dramatized in the 2010 film “The Social Network.”

After agreeing to the cash-and-stock accord, the Winklevosses sought to undo it, saying it was fraudulent because Facebook hid information from them and that they deserved more money.

In February, the brothers formed Winklevoss Capital as a vehicle to invest their personal wealth. Their first investment in June was SumZero, which brings together investors to share trading ideas and research, the WSJ reported.

SumZero.com has 7,500 members and has parallels with the first versions of Facebook, including exclusivity.

The site also allows investors to become members only if they work on the “buy side.” SumZero defines that group as investment professionals at hedge funds, mutual funds and private-equity firms. Analysts from the “sell side” such as Wall Street banks are not allowed, the report said.

source: interaksyon.com

Wall Street Week Ahead: A nice rally while it lasted

NEW YORK - At the start of the historically weakest month for equities there are plenty of reasons to believe stocks may be just about reaching a top - at least in the short term.

The S&P 500 has surged 14 percent this year and is at its highest level in more than 4 years. Not counting 2009 when equities rebounded from their crisis lows, this could be the best year for stocks since 2003 - nearly a decade.

A report showing hiring in the United States in August was again much slower than expected and warnings of a slowdown at Intel and FedEx this week, which will likely foreshadow a very weak earnings season, have not been enough to deter investors buoyed by aggressive central bank action.

After the European Central Bank's pledge to buy the debt of troubled eurozone countries this week the Fed is widely expected to introduce new stimulus measure in the form of more bond buying when it closes its two-day meeting on Thursday.

"Good news in good news and bad news is good news, largely because of the Bernanke put," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer, North Star Investment Management in Chicago.

The S&P 500 is now trading at 13.3 time its forward earnings estimates, meaning investors are willing to pay just over $13 for a dollar of expected earnings from S&P 500 companies.

Although that is below a median forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.7 since 1976 - according to Morgan Stanley - it is close to the upper end of the range in the low-growth post crisis era of the last 5 years. During that time there has been a median price-to-earnings ratio of 12.9, according to Thomson Reuters data.

In fact, the recent price-to-earnings high was 13.5 in February 2011, just above current levels. If you are of the view that little has changed since then, there is no reason for the ratio to go much higher. That combined with a slowing earnings picture inevitably means lower prices.

"Our view is that the next double digit move in the market is down not up," said Morgan Stanley in a research note.

The analysts, led by equity strategist Adam Parker, believe the S&P 500 will finish the year at 1,214, 15 percent below where it is now.

At current levels the risk-reward skew is starting to look less attractive then it did. That is especially true given the uncertainty the November presidential elections are likely to generate, as well as the potential for more slip-ups in Europe.

"We put a 1,450 target on the S&P for year and so I'm encouraged," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. "But I will say, if this trend continues, I'm inclined to declare victory and move to the sidelines (and) start taking profits."

The average analyst estimate for the S&P 500 this year is 1,383 according to a Reuters poll from the middle of the year. That shows Ablin is not alone. The S&P's performance has already outstripped most expectations.

Another negative factor is the rapidly declining earnings outlook for the remainder of the year, as well as for 2013. Analysts are now expecting a 2.1 percent drop in third quarter earnings year-on-year. About a year ago they were looking for growth of nearly 15 percent.

This week Jonathan Golub, UBS's chief U.S. equity strategist, cut his S&P 500 earnings outlook due to a weaker U.S. economic outlook, conversion distortions from a stronger dollar, as well as weaker oil prices.

For 2012 Golub cut his S&P earnings forecast to $102.50 from $103.50 and to $107.00 from $110 for next year.

Golub believes third quarter earnings will be just $25.10, 2 percent below the same period last year. On an annualized basis that would translate into an S&P 500 level of just over 1,300 given a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.

Signs are that those forecasts are already starting to come true.

On Tuesday, FedEx Corp, the world's second-largest package delivery company, cut its profit outlook for the current quarter, saying weakness in the global economy was hurting demand for overnight international shipments.

Three days later, Intel Corp cut its third-quarter revenue estimate due to a decline in demand for its chips, as customers reduce inventories and businesses buy fewer personal computers. A revision of Intel targets had been expected by some analysts after PC makers Hewlett Packard Co and Dell Inc warned of slow demand last month.

Golub is now talking about an earnings "drought" and even an earnings "recession."

"While investors are focused on monetary policy, we believe these weak earnings results will contain a market advance," he said in a research note.

Golub has a year end S&P target level of 1,375, 4.3 percent below Friday's closing level.

The latest leg of the rally was a 2 percent surge on Thursday that pushed the S&P 500 to its highest in more than four years and the Nasdaq to its highest in 12 years.

The move was courtesy of the European Central Bank and its pledge to act as an unlimited lender of last resort to troubled European nations. But it is not a done deal.

The German constitutional court will rule on Wednesday whether the European Union's new ESM rescue fund should come into being. If it vetoes it, the ECB's plans could be left in tatters since its intervention requires a country to seek help from the rescue fund first.

Dutch elections on the same day look to have been robbed of some of their potential drama, with the hard-left socialists now slipping in the polls. Instead, the fiscally conservative Liberals are set to win most seats with the center-left Labour party also polling strongly.

But there are no guarantees and Germany could yet be robbed of one of its staunchest pro-austerity allies in the debt crisis debate.

"While we got some monetary solutions we still need more answers (on) the underlying European economy," said Ablin. "I don't think bond buying solves the euro crisis."

Europe is not the only concern for investors. A slew of Chinese data on Sunday will provide an insight into how the world's second economy is faring amid concerns of a slowdown. The data includes inflation, retail sales and industrial production.

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry commodities, fell for the eighth straight session on Friday. Some of the weakness is blamed on collapsing iron ore demand from China.

Shipments of iron ore account for about a third of sea-borne volumes. Spot iron ore prices just hit their weakest in nearly three years, extending a market rout that began in July, while Poor demand drove Shanghai steel futures to a record low this past week.

But even with the less than stellar fundamental picture, the old saying 'don't fight the Fed' has proven to be true once again.

The chances of the Federal Reserve embarking on another round of bond purchases next week have jumped after the disappointing August U.S. employment numbers on Friday, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The median of forecasts from 59 economists gave a 60 percent chance the Fed will announce another round of quantitative easing, or QE3, on Thursday.

For the last 40 years the MSCI world index has lost 0.9 percent on average in September, making it the worst performing month for the stock market, according to data from Thomson Reuters. So far the index, a broad measure of global equities, is up 2.6 percent this month.

This year may well buck the trend.

source: interaksyon.com

Barclays sees Middle East driving investment bank

DUBAI — The Middle East will be an important growth area in coming years for investment banks, including Barclays, as local wealth funds put their oil dollars to work buying European assets, a senior executive at the British bank said.

"If you look globally, the upside is in emerging markets and the Middle East is a key component of that," Makram Azar, global vice-chairman for investment banking at Barclays, told Reuters.

"We are committed to the Middle East. I do not see why our strategy would change," Azar said in an interview.

Last week's appointment of retail banker Antony Jenkins as Barclays group chief executive could see a shift from riskier investment banking, analysts said, as the lender tries to recover from an interest rate-rigging scandal that brought down former CEO Bob Diamond.

Barclays is also the subject of a British regulatory inquiry into payments to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund linked to its participation in an 11 billion pound ($17 billion) refinancing of the bank at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

Azar would not comment on whether that inquiry might affect its business in the region.

While investment banking has been at the heart of recent troubles at Barclays, the unit delivered 54 percent of underlying first-half group profit.

Busy advising

Middle Eastern deal activity has been picking up after a subdued period. Cash-rich Gulf Arab sheikhs and governments are buying European assets, lured in part by attractive valuations due to weak markets.

"There is a pick-up in M&A activity in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, led to a large extent by Qatar and Abu Dhabi," Azar said.

"The environment in Europe is still challenging but there are names that were beaten up and are now trading at attractive levels. This presents an opportunity for Gulf investors."

Barclays leads M&A advisory rankings in MENA, according to Dealogic, with $4.7 billion of deals this year, followed by Goldman Sachs at $3.7 billion and Credit Suisse on $3.5 billion.

Gulf investment into Europe almost froze in 2010 and 2011 because of confusion over the euro zone debt crisis and losses suffered on previous overseas deals completed at the height of the 2008 crisis – most notably sovereign funds from Abu Dhabi and Kuwait investing in US banks.

Middle East funds are beginning to return and are making waves, led by cash-rich Qatar, which said last month it was buying a 20 percent stake in London Heathrow airport owner BAA.

Also, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund became an unexpected kingmaker in the Glencore-Xstrata deal after spending more than 3 billion pounds raising its stake to 12.3 percent.

Other regional players are also involved, with Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala acquiring a 5.6 percent stake in Brazilian conglomerate EBX for $2 billion and Almarai, Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company, buying Argentine farm operator Fondomonte S.A. for $83 million.

Gulf Arab investors are also targeting options closer to home as they look for places to park their cash.

"The oil price is at a high level, higher than the levels at which Gulf government budgets are based on, and this excess revenue needs to be invested," Azar said.

"Some of it is being channeled indirectly into the region in the form of investments such as Qatar Telecom's bid for Wataniya and the rest is invested outside the region."

Barclays has been advising Qtel's $2.2 billion bid for the 47.5 percent of Kuwaiti telco Wataniya it does not own. The Qatari group has also increased its stake in Iraqi firm Asiacell to 60 percent in a $1.47 billion deal in June.

Gulf-based banks are also said to be keen to acquire stakes in Egyptian lenders being offloaded by French owners who want to divest assets to shore up capital positions at home.

Azar said further opportunities would emerge this year.

"The bank worked on several deals in the region worth around $4.7 billion and the year is not over yet. We are now looking at a number of additional deals in the pipeline." — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com