Bought shares of RITPF (Lord Rothchild) due to their involvement with the ongoing expansion of Brazil farming acreage, more hectors of prime farming land than anywhere. Brazilian government has restricted the Chinese from owning property outright. They are trying to buy up farm land to feed their billions of people, soybeans being primary.
By way of example, we decided a few years ago to increase our exposure to some of the BRIC
countries. On the unquoted side, our founder investment in Xander Real Estate in India continues to
perform well. In Brazil we have a close relationship with the money manager Sagarmatha, we were
cornerstone investors in BR Properties, and we have invested (alongside a number of the world’s leading
sovereign wealth funds) in Brazil’s premier investment bank, Pactual.
In February we announced the creation of a new alternative asset management and advisory company,
Renshaw Bay. Bill Winters, formerly Co-Chief Executive of JP Morgan Investment Bank, is Chairman and
Chief Executive and a major shareholder in the new venture. Our co-investor is Reinet Investments SCA,
a private investment company connected with Compagnie Financière Richemont, which is chaired by
Johann Rupert.
In March we announced our landmark joint venture with the CREAT Group of China, who aim, with help
from us, to raise a fund of up to $750 million to invest in private equity opportunities outside China. I
believe that this is the first vehicle that will enable Chinese private sector investors to invest overseas
through a private equity fund. |
