At 7:26 a.m. the next day, on this day of celebration of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the headquarters of Xinsheng Investment in the International Building ushered in three men with grim looks.

I attended the sovereignty handover ceremony last night, and I didn't rest until 2 a.m., and I slept at least 9 a.m. to get up, but I got up very early today, before the three guests arrived at the International Building.

Tse Wai-cheong, who accompanied him, had just stepped down as Dean of the Hong Kong Business School and was invited by the first Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Wu Jinhua, to officially become a member of the Financial Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

As soon as the guests stepped out of the elevator, Xie Weichang greeted with a smile: "Three, Mr. Zhang, I don't think there is a need to introduce, the market in Bangkok is not optimistic, Mr. Ding is discussing countermeasures with the members of the investment decision-making committee, so he can only entrust us to accompany the three." ”

Many things don't happen overnight, there is a fermentation process.

The same is true of the financial crisis, as early as two months ago, under the reminder of the constitution and Tse Wai-cheong, the deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, Wu Nan, the first assistant to the financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, and the vice president of the financial corporation, noticed that international currency speculators were selling the baht on a large scale. In response, the International Monetary Fund has warned more than once that Thailand's booming economy will soon run into trouble, and has urged the Thai government to reduce the current account deficit in the balance of payments, implement more flexible exchange rate measures, raise tax rates, cut spending, and reform the banking system.

But the Thai government has ignored the warning and is still using its modest foreign exchange reserves to try to keep the baht, which is already overvalued.

International currency speculators have no intention of retreating. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the fall is a matter of time. Given the geographical relationship. The government and the SAR government must take into account the possible impact of the sharp depreciation of the baht. and prepare for the possibility of a domino effect that will continue to spread currency depreciation.

Bangkok's market is not optimistic, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Vice President Wu took the initiative to stretch out his arm to shake hands with the charter, and asked eagerly: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Xie, the Thai baht is lost?" ”

The charter shook his head, and said with a smile while beckoning the three of them in: "Not for the time being." However, according to the analysis of investment research experts, according to Thailand's existing foreign exchange reserves, the loss will be in the next 24 hours. ”

If you want to get the maximum benefit in it, you must prepare at least half a year or even a year in advance, the tens of billions of dollars injected by the People's Bank of China only arrived in the Xinsheng investment account a week ago, and the time was wasted, so you can only follow behind to eat leftovers, Vice President Wu was a little lost, and couldn't help asking: "What strategy will Mr. Ding take next?" ”

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I trust the investment team to make an informed decision." The charter shook his head again.

Many Hong Kong companies have investments in Thailand. Thinking of the consequences of the depreciation of the Thai baht, Assistant Financial Secretary Jiang Nan spoke a stiff Mandarin. Shaking his head and saying with a wry smile: "If nothing else, this may be the turning point of the Hang Seng Index, I hope it doesn't fall too badly, otherwise I don't know how many shareholders will go bankrupt." ”

Just taking office has to face such a tricky situation, and no one will feel good about it.

Xie Weichang sighed secretly and said bitterly: "In a few days, the presidents of the central banks of 11 countries and regions will go to Hujiang for a meeting, and I believe that the 'asset price bubble' will be the main topic of the meeting, raising the prices of stocks and real estate to an absurd height, and having such a great impact on economic activities, the healthy development of the financial system and inflation. ”

In the first SAR government, Jiang Nan belonged to the "radical faction" who firmly supported Wu Jinhua, and he nodded heavily and echoed: "So I very much agree with Mr. Wu's views on the transformation of the industrial structure, and I think this should be an opportunity for Hong Kong's economic transformation." ”

The two of them said this in front of Vice President Wu, obviously to win the support of the Chinese government for Wu Jinhua's future exchange rate reform, and the charter did not want to express their opinions on this issue, and more importantly, now is not the time, so they turned around and quipped: "Mr. Guan, it is said that Mr. Li is the uncrowned chief executive of Hong Kong, in my opinion, you are, in charge of so many assets, what company president in Hong Kong can compare with you?" ”

The fact that the SAR Government does not enter the market does not mean that the SAR Government really lets it go.

In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, under the establishment of the China Y government, the financial and judicial group equivalent to the "State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission" will inject 10 billion US dollars into Xinsheng Investment in the next week through a reasonable and legal capital operation mode.

In a few minutes, a due diligence team composed of the Financial Secretary, accounting firms and lawyers will be stationed in the International Building and complete the asset restructuring as soon as possible.

Vice President Guan was really in no mood to joke, but asked worriedly: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Ding is so busy here, who is responsible for the due diligence of the meeting?" ”

The war is imminent, and the office area is extremely busy, with the phone ringing one after another, and the clerks delivering the analysis data shuttling through the cubicle. The financial elite is either staring at the rows of monitors that display the stock and foreign exchange markets of Southeast Asian countries and regions in real time, or they are gathering in groups and whispering about something.

Through the glass partition, the company's president, Ding Wenming, can be seen sitting at an oval conference table, meeting with more than a dozen senior executives of Chinese and foreign nationality.

Even the front desk reception was busy, and there was no manpower to receive them, so he smiled casually: "I asked just now, the front desk reception and a few clerks are preparing, and the company's lawyer is also here, I think it won't be delayed." ”

Xinsheng investment is famous, as early as a few years ago Vice President Wu heard of it, but today is the first time to come, looking at the dozens of people busy in the office area, I can't help but ask suspiciously: "Mr. Zhang, Xinsheng is just these staff?" ”

Colleagues are very busy, Ding Wenming is like speculating on the pound back then, almost never slept a few times during this time, as the real boss of Xinsheng, the charter can only be a "tour guide", and introduced with a smile: "Of course it's not just these people, last time I came." There are more than a dozen teams here at the headquarters. Looks like they're all on a business trip. If you include the investment and fund management teams of Diamond Capital and NB Bank. There are about 600 people involved in the next investment. ”

"More than 600 people manage hundreds of billions of dollars in assets?"

"Yes, there are not many people, the key is to be capable," the charter pointed to the office in the air opposite, and said with a smug smile: "The company's more than 20 star investment managers are all first-class in the world and have a very high reputation in Hong Kong. ”

Xie Weichang lost no time in adding: "President Wu, Xinsheng Investment not only manages its own assets. It also has a large number of retail investors, and the reason why it has been able to stand out among the investment companies in Hong Kong in just a few years is entirely due to these more than 20 star investment managers. Many clients come to them and even specify which manager will invest their funds in. ”

"So, Xinsheng has more than $80 billion in funds at its disposal?"

"You can't say the same, after all, you can't put all your eggs in one basket if you want to make your investment safe."

This is undoubtedly a good opportunity to learn from the experience of similar business in China, and Vice President Wu asked with interest: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Xie, can you introduce me?" How does Xinsheng work? ”

It's not a trade secret, and the charter is happy to share it with him. Pushing open the pantry door, he beckoned everyone to sit down, and explained: "In this industry, if you do well, no one can erase your achievements, because the fund industry is the fairest; If you don't do it well, no one can save you, because this industry is the most transparent and the most cruel. Therefore, it is particularly important to have a good investment management team, especially star investment managers.

In addition, don't look at the company, there are only a few hundred people, it doesn't seem to be, in fact, it is equivalent to other small and medium-sized investment companies and fund companies, Xinsheng's scale is not small. If the company is large and there are enough people, the system is easy to guarantee. If the company is small and there are not enough talents, there will be a situation where one person plays multiple roles. For example, the president interferes with the investment, the investment director decides to trade individual stocks, and the assistant fund manager actually takes over the transaction. ”

"So what does the president care?"

This question is really difficult to answer, seeing that Xie Weichang, who knows Xinsheng very well in his opinion, hurriedly said: "Mr. Wu, Xinsheng is generally responsible for the company's investment committee in terms of stock and foreign exchange investment. Decisions are rarely made, and fund managers are rarely asked to act collectively, as they do now.

In short, unlike the president and investment director of other investment companies, Xinsheng does not have absolute authority, and investment managers and fund managers have a greater say in the funds and funds they manage.

It is even more common for a fund manager to manage both public offerings and special account products. Although everyone uses a research platform, the basic decisions are independent and beneficial to the company in the long run. It can be said that they are the main body of the company. ”

Looking at Vice President Wu's suspicious look, he handed over a freshly filled drink and confirmed with a smile: "The most important thing for Xinsheng is a stable and ambitious management, a sound internal governance, and a group of professional talents in asset management. As the president of the company, Mr. Ding's main job is to manage people, not to manage specific affairs.

It is worth mentioning that shareholders like you and me contribute the least to the company, but the return is the highest. After all, for an investment company, especially for a star investment manager, what is the use of capital? What is the use of shareholders? They have the ability and talent, they can raise enough money, and they have the means to do it, and they don't necessarily need us! ”

Every Popular Investment Manager has their own clients, and the importance of the company to them is really not that high.

Vice President Wu reacted at this time, took the cup and sighed: "Employing people without doubt, employing people without doubt, it is easy to say, but it is not so easy to really do." ”

"So it's important to build institutions."

The charter probe glanced at the conference room, and then said: "The company has an investment decision-making committee, which is responsible for asset allocation and investment decisions; The Chief Investment Officer is fully responsible for the company's investment, research and trading, and reports to the investment decision-making committee; The investment manager is responsible for the day-to-day investment operations of the fund.

The decision-making committee determines the basic trend of the securities and foreign exchange markets over a period of time and determines the range of the distribution ratio of the company's funds among asset classes. The investment manager shall make his or her own research judgment based on the investment report submitted by the research and analysis department within the scope of the asset allocation ratio determined by the investment decision-making committee. Decide on specific investment products and decide when to buy and sell. Among them, the single investment decision is subject to the approval of the investment decision-making committee. ”

In order to let him better understand Xinsheng. "In addition, the investment committee is divided into three parts: equity foreign exchange investment, fixed income investment and venture capital. Each investment committee has its own chairman, chief investment officer and deputy director, and there is no overlap between them.

In addition to investment, research and trading, the investment research department also has a risk management department. Provide risk reports and performance evaluations to the IFEC and investment managers to help them understand the level of risk exposure of the portfolio, identify the sources of investment income and the success of the investment strategy, and then prompt the investment manager to make investment adjustments.

Xinsheng has a perfect internal risk control mechanism and a firewall mechanism between various departments. It is better than other fund companies in Hong Kong, which may be an important reason for the great success of Xinsheng Investment Research in recent years. In particular, the correct judgment made at several market inflection points has nothing to do with these mechanisms. ”

As he spoke, two young analysts walked into the pantry. After nodding and saying hello to the charter and the others, he made coffee and stood in the hallway to continue the discussion.

"Although Thailand's foreign exchange reserves have bottomed out and the baht could fall at any time, European banks have accelerated their entry into the Asian market over the past year or so. Loans to Southeast Asia have surpassed Japan's, reaching an unprecedented $116 billion! Domino effect. The safety of the loan is at stake, and the IFEC must take this into account. ”

"My colleagues on the European side are staring at central banks, and so far there is no news on that, and I think there is very little chance that they will provide assistance to the Thai government."

"Our job is to take into account the uncertainties of each side, and as for the decision-making, it is the IFEC's business, and we will send that analysis report in, otherwise it will be a dereliction of duty."

……

Looking at their backs, Vice President Wu was full of emotion, you must know that they are just ordinary analysts who are not even members of the investment committee, but they stand so tall and see so far.

Ding Wenming's meeting lasted until 11 o'clock at noon, and when he was busy, he invited the charter and others to come to the multimedia conference room opposite the pantry to have a working meal with "Xinsheng characteristics".

A real big boss, two "financiers" from the domestic and Hong Kong governments, an assistant to the chief secretary and a senior aide to the chief secretary for administration, are all their own people, and there is nothing to hide. Ding Wenming finished the lunch box in two bites, turned on the most advanced multimedia conference system, and started a remote meeting again.

"Mr. Ding, Mr. Zhang, our American friends have not disappointed us, in the past 20 minutes, the Thai baht has shown signs of star weakness. Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank and Agricultural Bank of Thailand have even rejected the 600 million baht loan agreed yesterday, which is very unusual. ”

The seven-point head of the "fake foreign devil" John Chen appeared on the big screen, and the way his eyebrows flew and danced, he knew his mood at this moment at a glance.

Until the last moment, Ding Wenming didn't dare to slack off, took out a tissue and wiped his mouth and asked: "Is there any movement from the Thai government, especially the Bank of Thailand?" ”

"An emergency meeting is being held, don't worry, they won't last long, not to mention that we are prepared for both."

Ding Wenming glanced at the time in the lower left corner of the monitor, and muttered: "Wait for another twenty hours, contact us in time if there is any situation, in short, it is not a last resort, and the last chip that determines the outcome is not pressed by us." ”

"Got it."

John Chen, who was in the conference room of NB Bank in Bangkok, smiled at the charter and said: "We are under a lot of pressure, and the pressure on the American cowboys is even greater, I will not rob them of this honor, and I have other uses for the remaining funds." ”

"Well, wait for your good news."

Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Seoul...... More than 20 investment managers and fund managers of Xinsheng Investment, Diamond Capital, and NB Bank have introduced their respective situations. The huge bets of investing in leverage magnified dozens of times have been pressed, and everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.

It was the biggest gamble since the formation of Diamond Capital, and despite the fact that it was late at night in the United States, Prince Mateb remained in his office, keeping in touch with Hong Kong and several major Ilan banks, which were close to him.

"Zhang, Ding, I just spoke to Mohammed on the phone, and Riyadh and Kuwait have made it clear that funding is not a problem, and now it's up to you." His Royal Highness the Prince yawned for a long time, and he didn't look at Vice President Wu and Vice President Guan and others from the time they were connected.

Play is a heartbeat!

For this moment, the NB department not only raised a lot of money from the Middle East, but also prepared more than $10 billion in Russia, which no one expected. Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea are all at war, and the foreign exchange market and the stock market are both killed.

That's more than 130 billion US dollars, magnified ten times is 1.3 trillion yuan, even if the economic structure and financial system of Southeast Asian countries are fine, under the pressure of such a huge amount of capital, it can set off a huge wave.

Vice Governor Wu was secretly frightened, and the two Hong Kong government officials were ecstatic, because the charter could appear here in person and agree to the financial and judicial team to inject funds into Xinsheng, indicating that the NB department would not sit idly by in the next crisis.

The charter didn't think as much as theirs, money was just a number for him, half leaning in the leather seat, holding the cup, and smiling gracefully: "Your Highness, it should be up to Mr. Ding, I believe he won't let you down." ”

If he wins this battle, he will become the richest man in Arabia, and his wish is about to be fulfilled, and he is wondering whether to buy a Boeing 747 converted into a private airliner, Prince Meteb, laughed and said: "Of course, Ding has never let us down, not before, not now, and not in the future." ”

Ding Wenming was ridiculed, and couldn't help but remind: "Investment is risky, no one knows the outcome until the last moment, Your Royal Highness the Prince, I don't dare to give you any guarantees." ”

"Have confidence in yourself, Ding, I am optimistic about you, and I have never doubted your ability."

Thailand is just an appetizer, and it is Indonesia that really wants to do it, and after Indonesia's economy is in trouble, there will be political instability, and the charter does not want those wolf-hearted monkeys to do such a cruel thing next year, let alone see them still at large after committing heinous atrocities.

"Your Highness."

He suddenly sat up straight and smiled at the screen: "The tropical scenery in Jakarta is good, Xia Yao and the children have always wanted to go, I plan to wait for a month or two to take a vacation after this busy time, I don't know if you are interested?" ”

"Vacation, going to Jakarta?"

"Uh."

After being a friend for so many years, Prince Mateb knew him too well, and after thinking about it, he suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, I'm honored to accept your invitation, when will you call me." (To be continued......)