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China Inc.’s Investment in Saudi Arabia Rise +900% YoY Reshaping ME Tech, Tourism and Sustainable Finance
As forecast by World Pensions founder Maher-Nicolas Firzli (Asharq News w/ Bloomberg, Euromoney ECR), “China Inc.” has become the leading provider of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, raising its stake by a whopping +900% year-over-year. Chinese companies added approx. $ 17. bn of new investments in the kingdom in 2023,…
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Gold Hits New Highs, as Asian, GCC, US, EU Pension Investors Raise Allocation
A year ago (Jan. & Feb. 2023), in a series of interviews with Asharq News with Bloomberg and BBC News (Asia), World Pensions and Singapore Forum founder Nicolas Firzli predicted that “large public pension funds and sovereign wealth institutions would step-up their allocation to gold in the next 12 to 15 months, as the dual…
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Oil Price Heading to $ 100 as Biden Campaign Puts Emphasis on “Green Growth” and Containment of “Eurasia” and the Middle East …
in this exclusive interview with Asharq News with Bloomberg (28 March 2024), Royal Greenwich Forum founder Maher Nicolas Firzli looks at the geo-economic dynamics behind JP Morgan (and Morgan Stanley’s) recent upgrade to their “target price” for oil (Brent) and oil stocks for the second semester of 2024 Russia’s planned productions cuts (500,000 bpd announced…
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Singapore’s Strategic Role as Financial Capital of the Greater Asia-Pacific Area Bolstered by “Geoeconomics”
Maher Nicolas Firzli co-chaired the 2024 Singapore Economic Forum (SEF) & G20 Pensions Investment Roundtable (GPiR) alongside the Hon. Nick Sherrry, TWUSuper, Dr. Iuliia Shpak and Dr. Guan-Seng Khoo, EU ASEAN Centre. In this exclusive interview with Asharq News with Bloomberg held at the opening of the Singapore Forum, M.N. Firzli discusses the “changed geo-financial…
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Getting Inflation Assumptions Rights in a Choppy Macro Environment Key for Pension and Insurance Investors
The US inflation report in February 2024 exceeded expectations, signalling possible delays in anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Consumer Price Index rose by 3.2% year-on-year, with core inflation at 3.8% … This could further hinder the Federal Reserve room for maneuver in the coming quarters We’re republishing Firzli and Franzel’s seminal inflation assumptions primer,…
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IMF Warns Gaza, Red Sea Situation Threatens World Economy, Moody’s Downgrades Israel
In this exclusive interview croisée on Asharq News with Bloomberg, Maher Nicolas Firzli discusses the impact of the Israel–Gaza War on the world economy with Dr. M. Nidal al-Shaar, Dr. Samir Ghattas and programme host Sahar Mizari If we are to consider the Egyptian pound/US dollar exchange rate as a reflection of the pressures faced…
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Amundi and Vontobel Join PE and Infra Vogue as Private Market Assets Move Center Stage
In this executive summary of our upcoming Institutional Investment Research (IIR) primer (tb published in Waals-Brabant later this month), M. Nicolas Firzli, DG, World Pensions Council, Chair, G7 Pensions Investment Roundtable, discusses recent M&A trends in the PE/VC and infrastructure funds space Earlier today, Vontobel, the Swiss asset manager, announced it had acquired “a significant…
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IMF Warns Europe and UK, Praises US Economy, Ups Russia and Asia Pacific
World Pensions Council director Maher Nicolas Firzli live-comments the IMF’s revised growth outlook for the world economy in an exclusive interview with Maya Hojeij on Asharq News with Bloomberg “US resilience, driven by high tech consumerism and modern infrastructure spending, is quite remarkable: a testament to corporate America’s nimbleness in times of trouble, and, also,…
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Nuclear Renaissance: Energy Transition and Geopolitics Push Uranium Prices Above 16-Year Highs… What’s Next?
Singapore Forum director MN Firzli joined Asharq News with Bloomberg for an exclusive interview on “uranium price dynamics in a fractured world economy”. Kazakh mining giant Kazatomprom, by far the world’s leading producer and exporter of uranium, with 35%+ of the market, now expects production shortfalls for the next two years, and France, once a…
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White House thinks Europe is caught between US gas phase out and “Qatari influence”…
World Pensions Council director Nicolas Firzli interprets the “blurred signals sent by the Biden administration as America enters a pivotal electoral year [Biden/Trump replay], where the White House is facing rising pressures at home from progressive Democrat lawmakers and environmental groups, and seemingly insolvable geo-economic risks abroad”: Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Gaza Strip, China/Taipei authorities, Yemen/Red Sea shipping……