Traders Joking

China’s ‘invisible man’ quits forex role

The “invisible man” who held one of the world’s most important investment jobs for the past four years in leading the diversification of China’s foreign currency wealth has resigned.

Zhu Changhong had been the chief investment officer for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the agency that manages China’s $3.8tn mountain of foreign exchange reserves. He left a starring role at Pimco, the world’s largest bond house, to join SAFE in late 2009 and is now expected to return to the private sector, according to two people familiar with his decision.

Trained as a physicist, Mr Zhu earned the “invisible” moniker for his extreme reluctance to make public appearances. He has never given any media interviews, and the only photos of him online are a grainy picture from his student days and an unidentified shot from the time of his return to China.

But while operating in the shadows, the impact of Mr Zhu, 44, on the management of China’s foreign currency riches has become increasingly clear.

SAFE has moved away from the US dollar to a broader range of currencies. It has also shifted away from US government bonds, which used to dominate its portfolio, investing more in corporate debt, in private equity and even in property.

The portion of dollar assets in China’s reserves fell to 49 per cent as of the end of June 2012 – the most recent detailed figures – down from 69 per cent three years earlier, before his arrival, according to an analysis of US Treasury data.

China Business News, the local newspaper that was the first to report Mr Zhu’s departure from SAFE, cited industry insiders as saying that he had perfectly timed the surge in the Japanese stock market over the past year.

SAFE’s more aggressive investment stance under Mr Zhu has also allowed the agency to overshadow China Investment Corp as the primary vehicle for diversifying the country’s foreign currency holdings. CIC had been established in 2007 as China’s official sovereign wealth fund and was given a specific mandate to earn a higher return on the country’s bulging foreign exchange reserves.

But the central bank, which controls SAFE, has long been uncomfortable with handing money over to CIC because the fund operates under the auspices of the finance ministry. As a result, it has fought to keep the vast bulk of the reserves in SAFE’s hands, transferring less cash to CIC than had been expected. Mr Zhu’s strong investment record was seen as helping to justify that stance.

Mr Zhu, who holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago, worked at Bank of America before joining Pimco in 1999. He led Pimco’s derivatives desk and also managed a series of hedge funds for the bond house before moving back to China.

His departure from SAFE is the second major personnel change for China’s sovereign wealth funds in recent days. Last week, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Gao Xiqing, the founding president of CIC, was set to step down.

A Chinese man walks into a bar in America late one night and he sees
Steven Spielberg.
As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him, and asks for his autograph.
Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and says, "You Chinese people
bombed our Pearl Habour, get outta here."
The astonished Chinese man
replied, "It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbour, it was the Japanese".
"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese your all the same," replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese man gives Spielberg a slap and says, "You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship."
Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship, not me."
The Chinese man, replies,
"Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same."

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whappen

6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person

Feel free to stop reading this if your career is going great, you're thrilled with your life, and you're happy with your relationships. Enjoy the rest of your day, friend, this article is not for you. You're doing a great job, we're all proud of you. So you don't feel like you wasted your click, here's a picture of Lenny Kravitz wearing a gigantic scarf.

#6. The World Only Cares About What It Can Get from You

#5. The Hippies Were Wrong

#4. What You Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People

#3. You Hate Yourself Because You Don't Do Anything

#2. What You Are Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes You Do

#1. Everything Inside You Will Fight Improvement

slippers

This is non-related discussion thread so we may post it about anything ...

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Sochi Gold Medal Will Be One Of The Largest In Olympic History, Here's How Much It's Worth

It’ll be one of the biggest but not the most expensive. The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics gold medal’s “podium value” clocks in at approximately $566, a 20% decline from the record $708 value for the gold medals presented at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Why the price decline? Are the Russians skimping? Not so fast. It actually has to do with the drop in gold and silver prices over the past two years, from its record highs of 2012.