China Investment Corp, the nation's US$200-billion sovereign
wealth fund, will pick money managers for its overseas equity
investments by the end of the month, people involved in the
selection process said.
Two to three companies will be chosen for each of the four
mandated product areas, according to one person who declined to be
named because the plan hasn't been made public. CIC hasn't decided
if it will disclose a final list, said a press officer at the
Beijing-based company, according to Bloomberg News.
China is seeking to diversify its US$1.5 trillion in currency
reserves to obtain higher returns than United States Treasury
bonds. The Beijing-based fund will recruit asset-management
companies to oversee equity investments benchmarked against indexes
for the world, developing countries, emerging markets and Asia
excluding Japan.
Companies must have at least US$5 billion or the equivalent of
assets under management to receive a license. CIC is also
recruiting fixed-income managers for two debt mandates.
(Shanghai Daily February 21, 2008)
