(Photo opposite: Campus where Jurgen teaches in Changchun, China) The six week summer holiday’s literally melted away. My second semester in Changchun’s about to get underway. Classes in the winter semester kick off this week. Over the past week, the ambiance on campus has undergone quite a change. Students are flocking back to their university. Freshmen are being shown around. Since being filled in on my classes for this winter semester, I leisurely went walkabout across the spacious campus in the evening. That sort of thing’s given me a hand in getting some inspiration as to how to start off with my classes. Getting things done like a freelance artist plays out quite well for me. After all, pulling things off like a block warden lacks the certain sex appeal.

Asian Investments

What passes for the government in my country of birth Germany too falls short of the certain sex appeal. That government’s recently tabled a bill in parliament regarding investments in Germany from sovereign wealth funds. You need no reminding. Sovereign wealth funds are state run investment vehicles. They’ve been largely set up in Asia and the Middle East. These sovereign wealth funds are in charge of investing the massive revenues that numerous Asian and Middle Eastern countries generate. These revenues don’t even remotely look like small beer. They display that these Asian and Middle Eastern nations have come a long way.

The China Investment Corporation - a sovereign wealth fund from my present spot of residence China - acquired a stake in Morgan Stanley. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority bought into Citygroup. The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation holds a stake in UBS. Because these sovereign wealth funds showcase a little financial clout, they’re anything but a pushover. Yet it’s safe to reckon that certain banking outfits gratefully clinched a deal with them. They dabbled in dodgy mortgages and feel the pinch now. Investments from sovereign wealth funds may help them pull themselves back into shape.

Despite all this, the German government figures that it’s got to protect German business from sovereign wealth funds. According to the bill tabled in parliament, the German government can veto an investment when two requirements are met. First, a sovereign wealth fund sets out to hold more than twenty five percent. Second, that investment poses a sufficiently serious threat to fundamental interests of society. Please don’t ask me what that means. Above all, there seems to be some shaking in ministerial shoes that sovereign wealth funds may swallow up strategic business interests.

You may have guessed it already. German business falls short of being grateful for that bill. Movers and shakers in German business expect a dip in investments triggered by that bill. On top of it, sovereign wealth funds so far haven’t politically meddled. Instead, they’ve so far pursued long term investment strategies. Let’s wait and see. The whole thing may backfire on Germany and its economy. German business may have to foot the bill if that bill passes parliament. I’m tempted to sum up the cranky notion reflected by that bill with the words: No sense is nonsense.

However, parking some of your dough in Asian currencies may shake out as the opposite of nonsense in a few years time. You can do so by holding an international currency deposit account. You can do so as well by ploughing that dough into a currency fund. I do eat my own cooking, but not through a fund. In case you wanna do something along these lines through a fund, do have a careful look at the fund. Because of the credit squeeze, a few banks and their funds don’t come across as horribly awe inspiring.

Be that as it may. You may have a blush at Barclay’s Asian and Gulf Revaluation Fund. The fund projects the idea of playing Asian currencies. The US dollar’s in the doldrums. Asian currencies are likely to be revalued. Or they’re likely to float upwards against the US dollar. To play that sort of thing, the fund holds the Hong Kong dollar and the Singapore dollar, the Chinese Renminbi as well as the UAE dirham and the Saudi Arabian riyal. You may give it some thought.

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