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[grupo] 29/10/2017 08:57

Saudi Arabian sovereign fund to invest in space tourism

By Hilary Lamb

Published Friday, October 27, 2017

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is to back Virgin Group's space tourism venture with a $1 billion investment in Virgin Galactic and other Virgin space projects.

Recent major investments made by the fund have supported technology companies including ride-sharing service Uber, innovative robotics manufacturer SoftBank and defence technologies giant Lockheed Martin.

Saudi Arabia’s rich oil supply has made the kingdom wealthy, although there are serious concerns that its oil-dependent economy will suffer as reserves run dry in coming decades. In response to this, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely viewed as a modernising influence in the country, has established Vision 2030, a plan to diversify the Saudi economy.

“The future of Saudi Arabia is one of innovation,” said bin Salman. “It’s through partnerships with organisations like Virgin Group that we will make active contributions to those sectors and technologies that are driving progress on a global scale.”

Virgin Galactic is the arm of Virgin Group aimed at developing spacecraft for research and tourism. It owns the Spaceship Group, which designed SpaceShipTwo, a spacecraft intended to carry paying customers.

In 2016, Virgin Galactic was granted a licence by the US Federal Aviation Administration to use SpaceShipTwo for commercial flights once safety tests are completed. This would make it the first space company to offer rides to tourists.

Also owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is Virgin Orbit, which provides rocket launches for small satellites. Virgin Orbit is currently developing a new launch vehicle, LauncherOne, which is capable of lifting off from the wing of an aeroplane, and carrying satellites into orbit around Earth.

The $1bn investment will be shared between Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Group and Virgin Orbit. There is also the option for a further $480m investment in the future, a statement published by Virgin said.

“This investment will enable us to develop the next generation of satellite launches and accelerate our programme for point-to-point supersonic space travel,” Branson commented.

“We are now just months away from Virgin Galactic going into space with people on board and Virgin Orbit going into orbit and placing satellites around the Earth."

The statement confirming the investment was published as the Future Investment Initiatives conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, drew to a close. An illustration accompanying Brandon’s statement depicted a space-themed entertainment park in Saudi Arabia, although there are no details of such a project.

According to Branson, Virgin will remain based in the US, and will not compromise on its values in spite of the generous investment from the ultra-conservative country’s sovereign fund.

[sarkasm] 28/10/2017 09:30

Russia's sovereign investment fund to participate in Saudi NEOM project
The UAE's Emaar has also said they would participate if invited
RDIF CEO Kiril Dmitriev pictured with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has announced their participation in Saudi Arabia’s NEOM programme, which the kingdom has billed “the city of the future”.

According to the RDIF, the fund and its partners will facilitate the participation of Russian innovation companies involved in the solar energy, health, education, AI, transportation, and port infrastructure sectors.

“We are pleased to participate in such an ambitious project that will combine new technologies from a wide range of areas,” said RDIF CEO Kiril Dmitriev.

“RDIF plans to co-invest alongside international funds and bring leading Russian companies into the NEOM project, thus fostering expansion of their innovative technologies in the promising markets of Saudi Arabia and Middle East as a whole.”

Additionally, Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar said Emaar would like to participate in the NEOM project if the opportunity arises.

“It’s a big, exciting thing. If they call on us, we would look on that positively,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

“The Middle East as a whole is very short on infrastructure, and the project is a very significant addition. If we’re invited to participate, we would be honored.”

The $500 billion NEOM city project – which is being created as part of Vision 2030 – is expected to eventually be home to millions of people near the Saudi borders with Egypt and Jordan. The city is envisioned as a free economic zone supported by high-tech businesses, with funds provided by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as well as local and international investors.

[maywillow] 25/10/2017 19:40

Saudis To Lift Sovereign Wealth Fund Assets To $400B By 2020
By Tsvetana Paraskova - Oct 25, 2017, 1:19 PM CDT Riyadh

As it is trying to boost private-sector growth and diversify its economy away from crude oil, Saudi Arabia aims to make its Public Investment Fund (PIF) one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds and double its assets to US$400 billion (1.5 trillion Saudi riyals) by 2020.

The Saudis published the 2018-2020 program of PIG on Wednesday to detail the objectives in domestic and international investments and expected annual returns in each of the fund’s planned investment pools. The program is one of twelve realization programs part of the Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy championed by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud.

“It also seeks to grow PIF into one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, as well as to build strong economic partnerships to deepen and strengthen the impact and role of Saudi Arabia on the regional and global stages,” PIF’s program reads.

As of September 30, 2017, PIF’s assets stood at US$224 billion (840 billion Saudi riyals).

Moving forward, the initiatives are expected to raise PIF’s assets that are expected to generate between 4 percent and 5 percent in average annual total shareholder returns to 2020. Over the long-term, the fund has identified investment pools in six areas—Saudi equity holdings, Saudi sector development, Saudi real estate and infrastructure development, Saudi giga-projects, international strategic investments, and an international diversified pool. Each of the investment pools are expected to yield long-term returns of between 6.5 percent and 9 percent.

In international investments, PIF plans to invest in fixed income, public equities, private equities, real estate and infrastructure, alternative investments (including hedge funds), and direct investments.

Related: This Oil Rally May Be Short-Lived

PIF is expected to receive part of the proceeds from the listing of 5 percent in Saudi oil giant Saudi Aramco currently planned for next year.

A few days ago, Aramco once again refuted reports of the past month that it could delay the listing of 5 percent of its shares in what is expected to be the biggest initial public offering ever, with Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser telling CNBC in an interview that the IPO is on track for the second half of 2018, as planned.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

[grupo] 02/10/2017 16:19

Norway's Withdrawals From Sovereign Wealth Fund Now Falling Fast
By Jonas O Bergman
2 octobre 2017 à 09:48 UTC+2

Norway’s government is cutting withdrawals from its sovereign wealth at a faster clip than estimated amid rising oil prices and falling unemployment.

[la forge] 21/9/2017 16:13

IS THE POT NOT GOING TO FILL WITH INVESTMENTS IN THOSE COMPANIES WITH OIL AND WATER WELLS


Nestlé Makes Billions Bottling Water It Pays Nearly Nothing For
The company’s operation in Michigan reveals how it’s dominated the industry by going into economically depressed areas with lax water laws.
Illustration: Silja Götz for Bloomberg Businessweek
By Caroline Winter
21 septembre 2017 à 11:00 UTC+2

In rural Mecosta County, Mich., sits a near-windowless facility with a footprint about the size of Buckingham Palace. It’s just one of Nestlé’s roughly 100 bottled water factories in 34 countries around the world.

[ariane] 21/9/2017 08:13

WORLDS END

[ariane] 19/9/2017 12:13

will there investment decisions affect certain companies and thus share price
confidence

all could have been lost like tears in the rain

[ariane] 19/9/2017 12:11

used their oil wealth well like shell

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund hits $1 trillion for first time

Norges Bank says $1 trillion mark was never forecast
Dollar weakness a major factor

David Reid | @cnbcdavy
Published 1 Hour Ago CNBC.com
Offshore oil rig Norway North Sea
Jan Stromme | Getty Images

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has officially hit $1 trillion.

Norges Bank, who manages the fund for Norway, said on its website that the rainy-day pot was never expected to grow so large.

"I don't think anyone expected the fund to ever reach 1 trillion dollars when the first transfer of oil revenue was made in May 1996. Reaching 1 trillion dollars is a milestone, and the growth in the fund's market value has been stunning", said Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer at Norges Bank Investment Management.

The fund's administrators said that on Tuesday 19 September 2017 at 2:01 a.m. local time, the fund value hit $1,000,000,000,000, or $1 trillion, for the first time.

The bank said a strengthening of the world's major currencies against the U.S. dollar combined with strong equity markets during 2017 had rapidly increased the U.S. dollar value of the pooled capital.

Norway's fund was set up more than 20 years ago to invest revenue arising from oil extraction.

In August, Norges Bank said Nestle, China's Tencent and Swiss company Novartis made the biggest positive contributions to the fund's growth across the second quarter.

In January 2016, the Norwegian government made the first ever withdrawal from the pot of cash to address a slowing economy.
David ReidBlog Writer, CNBC.com

[ariane] 19/9/2017 12:11

used their oil wealth well like shell

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund hits $1 trillion for first time

Norges Bank says $1 trillion mark was never forecast
Dollar weakness a major factor

David Reid | @cnbcdavy
Published 1 Hour Ago CNBC.com
Offshore oil rig Norway North Sea
Jan Stromme | Getty Images

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, has officially hit $1 trillion.

Norges Bank, who manages the fund for Norway, said on its website that the rainy-day pot was never expected to grow so large.

"I don't think anyone expected the fund to ever reach 1 trillion dollars when the first transfer of oil revenue was made in May 1996. Reaching 1 trillion dollars is a milestone, and the growth in the fund's market value has been stunning", said Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer at Norges Bank Investment Management.

The fund's administrators said that on Tuesday 19 September 2017 at 2:01 a.m. local time, the fund value hit $1,000,000,000,000, or $1 trillion, for the first time.

The bank said a strengthening of the world's major currencies against the U.S. dollar combined with strong equity markets during 2017 had rapidly increased the U.S. dollar value of the pooled capital.

Norway's fund was set up more than 20 years ago to invest revenue arising from oil extraction.

In August, Norges Bank said Nestle, China's Tencent and Swiss company Novartis made the biggest positive contributions to the fund's growth across the second quarter.

In January 2016, the Norwegian government made the first ever withdrawal from the pot of cash to address a slowing economy.
David ReidBlog Writer, CNBC.com

[marquis] 03/1/2003 10:53

Scotland's relationship with drink is 'spinning out of control'
By Paul Kelbie Scotland Correspondent
02 January 2003


A culture of binge drinking means that alcohol is killing four times as many Scots as it did a generation ago, costing the country more than £1bn a year.

Latest statistics from the Department of Health reveal that one in four women aged between 18 and 24 now drinks to excess, compared with one in eight a decade ago, prompting Scotland's deputy chief medical officer, Dr Andrew Fraser, to warn the problem is on the verge of spinning out of control. "Other countries don't drink the way we drink," said Dr Fraser. "We have to relearn our relationship with alcohol."

One area of Glasgow has been named as having the world's highest incidence of a rare type of alcohol-related brain damage. Korsakov's syndrome is an irreversible condition that causes patients to lose their short-term memory.

More than 400 people a year in Scotland are diagnosed with the condition, most of them in the western area of the country, which is brought on not by the alcohol but by withdrawal caused when a drinker cuts their alcohol intake suddenly.

Last year the Scottish Executive launched a £1.5m advertising campaign to highlight the dangers of binge drinking after it was revealed that one in 10 of all accident and emergency admissions are attributed to excess drink.

But it is the rising "ladette" culture which is causing most concern. "Marriage has been delayed, women are getting much more into the workforce, they've got much more equal opportunities," said Professor Gerald Hastings, of Strathclyde University. "All wonderful things, all to be applauded. But alcohol is increasingly being equated with independence, with freedom, with equality with men."