We need to find a fairer way of providing Goods and Services to the rest of the people on Earth.Cryptocurrencies and/or Gold Standard of money....maybe the answer to fight hyperinflation caused by too much printing of paper/fiat currencies by Governments and Central Banks all over the World. (https://nomorefiatmoneyplease.blogspot.com)
City 2016 bonuses seen a fraction of private equity, survey says
Investment bankers in London's financial center expect an average bonus of 24,461 pounds (US$36,000) this year, about a quarter of the compensation predicted by employees at private-equity firms, according to a recruitment company.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[LONDON] Investment bankers in London's financial center expect an average bonus of 24,461 pounds (US$36,000) this year, about a quarter of the compensation predicted by employees at private-equity firms, according to a recruitment company.
Private-equity employees had the highest expectations, predicting an average bonus of 104,125 pounds, or about 71 per cent of their salary, according to the survey of more than 1,000 City of London staff conducted by Astbury Marsden. Private bankers and wealth managers forecast a bonus of about 59,196 pounds, or 60 per cent of their salary.
Europe's largest lenders have been hurt by rules capping bonuses at twice annual salary, while tougher capital requirements have prompted firms to eliminate thousands of jobs and scale back their securities operations. At Deutsche Bank AG, co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan has said that bankers still earn too much money.
"The problem is that even those lower expectations are above what banks want to pay them," Adam Jackson, managing director at Astbury Marsden, said in the statement. "Investment banks could risk an outflow of key personnel if they are tempted away by the comparative largesse of private-equity firms."
Employees in investment-management expect bonuses of 27,525 pounds, followed by staff in corporate- and stockbroking forecasting an average of 27,071 pounds, according to the survey. Traders of commodities expect 26,939 pounds. The average bonus forecast for workers across the City is about 23,196 pounds, Astbury Marsden said.
GIC on Monday said that it plans to, together with joint venture partners, buy a student housing portfolio in the United States that is worth about US$1.4 billion.
GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and The Scion Group LLC said that they have formed a student housing joint venture entity, Scion Student Communities LP.
The joint venture, through its subsidiary, UHC Acquisition Sub, plans to acquire University House Communities Group, Inc (UHC), a student housing portfolio in the United States, for a total of about US$1.4 billion from InvenTrust Properties Corp. This will include the cost to complete current development projects.
Through the joint venture, CPPIB and GIC will each own a 47.5 per cent interest in UHC. Scion will own the remaining 5 per cent, as well as manage and operate the portfolio. The joint venture will also pursue additional opportunities to acquire "high-quality student housing assets" primarily in Tier-1 university markets in the US. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2016.
European equity futures fall sharply as weak China data hits markets
European equity futures fell sharply on Monday, as weak Chinese economic data weighed on world stock markets.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[LONDON] European equity futures fell sharply on Monday, as weak Chinese economic data weighed on world stock markets.
Futures on the Euro STOXX 50 and German DAX fell between 2.1-2.5 per cent, while futures on Britain's FTSE and France's CAC fell between 1.2-1.4 per cent.
China's factory activity contracted for the 10th straight month in December and at a sharper pace than in November, a private survey showed, dampening hopes that the world's second-largest economy will enter 2016 on a more stable footing.
The weak data caused Chinese and Asian shares to slump, with China's benchmark CSI300 share index tumbling 7 per cent on Monday, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading for the rest of the day.
Global aerospace, defense sector to see 3% growth: report
Revenues in the global aerospace and defense sector are expected to grow by 3 per cent in 2016 after a 0.5 per cent decline in 2015, according to a new forecast by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[WASHINGTON] Revenues in the global aerospace and defense sector are expected to grow by 3 per cent in 2016 after a 0.5 per cent decline in 2015, according to a new forecast by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
The rebound will likely be driven by strong passenger traffic, continued demand for commercial aircraft from growing economies like India and China, and an expected recovery in global military spending fueled by tensions in the Middle East, the company said in its annual outlook for the sector.
It said US military spending had likely bottomed out in 2015 and was slated to rise slightly in the fiscal 2016 year which began Oct 1. Global security threats were also fueling growth in defense budgets in many other countries, it said.
COSCO, China Shipping merger to result in new company: regulator
China Ocean Shipping Group Co (COSCO) and China Shipping Group Co will become a new entity after merging, led by the latter's current chairman, China's state-owned assets regulator said on Monday.
PHOTO: SPH
[SHANGHAI] China Ocean Shipping Group Co (COSCO) and China Shipping Group Co will become a new entity after merging, led by the latter's current chairman, China's state-owned assets regulator said on Monday.
The former rivals said in December they would merge through a series of asset swaps, creating units focused on distinct business areas such as container shipping and vessel leasing.
Together, COSCO and China Shipping control 488 billion yuan (US$74.7 billion) worth of assets, Barclays analysts estimated.
After the merger, the resulting, newly established company will be chaired by Xu Lirong, the State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission said on its official microblog.
The merger comes as the government moves to consolidate state-owned industries.
GM invests US$500m in Lyft to bolster alliance against Uber
General Motors Co will invest US$500 million in Lyft Inc, giving the ride-hailing startup a valuation of US$5.5 billion and a major ally in the global battle against Uber Technologies Inc.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
[SAN FRANCISCO] General Motors Co will invest US$500 million in Lyft Inc, giving the ride-hailing startup a valuation of US$5.5 billion and a major ally in the global battle against Uber Technologies Inc.
The investment, part of a US$1 billion financing round for Lyft, is the biggest move by an automaker to date when it comes to grappling with the meteoric rise of the ride-hailing industry.
GM and Lyft said they will work together to develop a network of self-driving cars that riders can call up on-demand, a vision of the future shared by the likes of Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. More immediately, America's largest automaker will offer Lyft drivers vehicles for short-term rent through various hubs in US cities, the companies said in separate statements on Monday.
GM President Dan Ammann, who is joining Lyft's board as part of the deal, expects the automotive industry to "change more in the next five years than it has in the last 50 and we obviously want to make sure we're at the forefront of that change."
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Mr Ammann called the investment an "alliance" with Lyft. Rather than stay neutral in the battle between Uber and Lyft, GM invested because of the "level of integration and cooperation that will be required, particularly for the longer term nature of this," he said in a phone interview.
Uber's Mr Kalanick, whose company has been investing aggressively in self-driving cars, has said that it could take between 5 and 15 years before such vehicles are meaningfully deployed around the country.
GM is open to working with some of Lyft's international partners, which include Didi Kuaidi in China, Ola in India and GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia, Mr Ammann said.
"We certainly see an opportunity to work together through those relationships," Mr Ammann said. "The US is our home market and it continues to be our largest market and we think this is the right place to begin the journey."
The partnership is a blow for Uber, which has fought to overwhelm Lyft, its only substantial US competitor. Sidecar, another American rival, announced in December that it would shut its network.
Uber has raised more than US$10 billion in financing and is spending aggressively to grow. Its last round of financing valued the company at US$62.5 billion.
Ford Motor Co is experimenting with its own ride-sharing initiatives: the company last year started offering a network of shared cars in London to tap the growing market for on-demand driving. Fontinalis Partners LLC, the venture firm funded by Ford family heir Bill Ford, has previously invested in Lyft.
Lyft's latest financing round nearly doubles the three- year-old startup's total financing. Since 2013, Lyft has raised more than US$2 billion, the company said. Bloomberg previously reported that Lyft had filed to raise US$1 billion as part of this financing round. Its latest US$5.5 billion valuation is post- money, meaning it includes the value from raising its latest US$1 billion.
Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co invested US$100 million as part of the round and existing investors Janus Capital Management, Rakuten Inc, Didi Kuaidi and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd also participated, according to the statement.
Lyft lost US$127 million in the first half of 2015 on US$46.7 million in revenue, according to fundraising documents obtained by Bloomberg. It said in November it has gained share in key markets such as San Francisco, and has a gross revenue "run rate" of US$1 billion. Lyft has said it's operating in more than 190 cities.
US: Wall St starts 2016 in the red after China rout
US stocks opened sharply lower on the first trading day of 2016 after lackluster Chinese economic data rekindled worries of slowing global growth.
PHOTO: REUTERS
[NEW YORK] US stocks opened sharply lower on the first trading day of 2016 after lackluster Chinese economic data rekindled worries of slowing global growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 190.14 points, or 1.09 per cent, to 17,234.89, the S&P 500 lost 23.48 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 2,020.46 and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 111.48 points, or 2.23 per cent, to 4,895.93.
