“When we were marketing our Asia hedge fund five years ago, one head of a large US fund of hedge funds observed: ‘Shanghai, eh? I bet you get great sushi there’”
A Shanghai-based US hedge fund manager shows why a deep knowledge of local markets is a prerequisite of investing in Asia [see Hedge funds choose their spot]
“Four years ago I went to see someone at the China Securities Regulatory Commission concerning a deal that had been approved for a competitor. I said: ‘You have to let us do it or it wouldn’t be fair’. The lady looked at me and said: ‘Fair – that’s such a western concept. We’ll do what is in the interests of China to develop our markets.’ It was a powerful lesson”
A regional head of investment banking in Asia gives an insight into how foreign banks have had to adapt in order to get ahead in China [see Great Wall Street of China]
“It doesn’t matter if you drop your trousers, it’s whether you get a shag!”
A borrower explains to a bond structurer that “consummating” a deal is more important than having the original idea
“There aren’t many European credit hedge funds that have any experience of loans. You either have the French that are out there whipping CDS around but are not fundamental credit guys – they are momentum guys. They wouldn’t know a loan if it bit them on the bottom. Then you have a lot of London-based guys that are basically retooled long-only bond managers calling themselves hedge funds”
A long-established credit hedge fund manager tells it like it is
“Oh God, that is so boring. People are sick to death of hearing about it”
The global head of real estate at a European bank is brutally honest when asked to highlight the structural brilliance of one of his own deals