China Investment Corp., the nation’s sovereign-wealth fund, said Thursday that it plans to improve the management of its overseas investments after it was publicly criticized by the government’s auditing agency for a string of irregularities that led to unspecified losses.
China’s National Audit Office said Wednesday that CIC was found to have management shortcomings that resulted in overseas losses on six projects between 2008 and 2012. The extent of the losses wasn’t given. The auditing agency blamed the losses at CIC on dereliction of duty by management, insufficient due diligence and poor post-investment management……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp, the nation’s US$575 billion (HK$4.48 billion) sovereign wealth fund, said it is improving how it manages overseas investments after state auditors said mismanagement led to losses. The fund has drafted plans to rectify issues identified by the National Audit Office, analyzed the causes, and is amending related mechanisms and procedures, Beijing-based CIC said.
CIC will also strengthen due diligence for overseas deals and enhance post-investment management, and standardize the selection of external managers. An audit last year found dereliction of duty by managers and inadequate due diligence and management in 12 investments made abroad between 2008 and 2013, leading to losses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Irregularities amounting to more than $5 billion have been found at China’s sovereign wealth fund and two large state-owned banks, according to the state auditor, offering a glimpse into the opaque management of government-controlled firms.
China Investment Corporation (CIC), Bank of China and Agricultural Development Bank of China violated regulations in areas including asset selling, loan issuance and fraudulent invoicing, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). “The audit found CIC breached rules on overseas investment and risk control, domestic subsidiaries operation and financial management,” the NAO said in a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp. (CIC), the country’s US$ 575 billion sovereign wealth fund, has been blamed by the state auditor for flaws in its management of both domestic and overseas investment projects, leading to losses. On June 18, the National Audit Office issued a report on CIC’s operations in 2012. It criticized CIC for a series of irregularities in investment assessments, subsidiary operations, and personnel and financial management.
Internal and external supervision are crucial for a sovereign wealth fund like CIC. The auditor’s report rings the alarm and should prompt the sovereign wealth fund to reexamine itself. However, assessing the investment performance of a sovereign wealth fund is not straightforward………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp. (CIC), China’s $650 billion sovereign wealth fund, is shifting some of its allocation to agriculture. “We believe the agriculture sector offers stability, a way of hedging against inflation and a device for spreading risk,” CIC’s CEO Ding Xuedong wrote in the Financial Times.
“We are keen to invest more across the entire value chain—in partnership with governments, multilateral organizations and like-minded institutional investors—in areas that will help to unlock the industry’s potential, increase the food supply and offer attractive returns.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The trade department has invited Norwegian businessmen to increase investments in the Philippines. “We [Department of Trade and Industry officials] met with Norwegian government officials that manage the fund and we encouraged them into investing more here and increase their exposure in the Philippines,” said Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo in a chance interview with reporters on Wednesday.
Domingo noted that Norway possesses the largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund-Global (SPU), and the Philippines stands to gain from more investments as the Nordic country already has substantial investments in blue-chip companies, through the said fund………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. announced that its parent company, Banco Santander, S.A. has entered into a definitive agreement with FINESP Holdings II B.V, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm focused on growth investing, to create a leader in the custody business.
As per the terms of the agreement, which is conditional upon legal and regulatory approvals, the group which will also include Temasek, a Singapore based investment company, will acquire a 50% stake in Santander’s current custody operations in Spain, Mexico and Brazil. The remaining 50% will be owned by Santander. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. entered into a limited liability company agreement with American Homes 4 Rent to form American Homes 4 Rent II LLC (to acquire, renovate and lease additional single-family residential properties in the United States.
The fund has an 80% capital interest in the new company with American Homes the remaining 20%. The two will initially fund the new firm with $50 million. The maximum term of the new company is six years at which time any unsold properties will be sold………………………………………..Full Article: Source