Cuban fog

Strung-out on jetlag at day’s end, I sit in the Cigar Divan at the Mandarin in Hong Kong.  A fine, pricey Cuban fog hangs in the retro-gloom.  I have a glass of Cabernet at my elbow.  Asia is racing ahead, and new buildings sprout in the SAR, but happily there are some constants, and this is one of them.  The worn-out leather club chairs are as silly and pretentious as always.  Hong Kong is crawling with chastened private equity sharks, all tie-less, and bewildered asset managers attending two giant conferences in town this week.  No one knows what to invest in nowadays, but they suspect Asia is a better bet than anything else.  Are they correct in this?  We are doing the same, with our receivables finance business in China and Vietnam, we avoid the stock market nonsense by going in as principals.  Time will tell whether we have it right.  Interesting is that the firms I have met are all hungry for deals, they listen with glistening eyes.  The bankers, meanwhile, are lost at sea.  There are few ‘normal’ deals in the market.  This is a time for steady nerves and a fixed purpose.  

 

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, 22 September 2009