The Longleaf Partners International Fund recently published their 4Q shareholder letter, which you can download and read here. The letter includes commentary on a number of the Asian companies in their portfolio, including Melco International, CK Asset and Yum China. Some highlights on Yum China below (a direct excerpt from their letter): Yum China: “…the […]

This week’s readings / links include a review of the bear case for Chinese markets, a conversation with Kosmo Kalliarekos of Baring Private Equity Asia, a look at the centuries-old struggle against the caste system in India, Angus Deaton on why the U.S. can no longer hide from its deep poverty problem and the latest memo […]

George Soros addressed a small audience in Davos last week, where he discussed (among other things) the rise of nationalism and the emergence of large, monopolistic technology platforms such as Facebook and Google that are becoming “obstacles to innovation.” His full speech transcript is embedded below, via Alex Jungwirth of Apollo PR. Well worth a […]

This week’s readings / links include Michael Pettis on why China likely won’t buy fewer U.S. treasury bonds, a look at the rise of internet censorship in Southeast Asia, thoughts on competition in the digital age, an interview with Walter Isaacson about his biography of Leonardo da Vinci and a profile of the Amanyangyun. Why […]

This week’s readings / links include a look at China’s war on poverty, an interview with Richard Liu (founder of JD.com), a profile of Mark Mobius, why Chinese workers are abandoning Silicon Valley for riches back home and short interviews with David Webb and Wang Lihong (Bain Capital). China’s war on poverty could hurt the […]

Bumper reading list this week. Enjoy! The $100 billion venture capital bomb: Softbank’s Masayoshi Son bets the Vision Fund — the biggest VC pool in history — on automation. The war for China’s wallet: Shaun Rein’s presentation at the FCC, Hong Kong. Deradicalisation schools: The Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School seeks to break the cycle of generational […]

Final weekly reading list of 2017. Happy new year! Recalling Singapore’s forgotten unions: The long-ruling PAP first rose to power on the back of the working class – a once strong, now politically co-opted constituency. George Soros and the demonization of philanthropy: Conspiracy theories about him obscure the real concerns about how large-scale giving works today. The […]

Michael Mauboussin, the director of research at BlueMountain Capital Management (BlueMountain), has recently published some of his foundational work on how to compare effectively. It’s a pretty interesting read. Here is a brief excerpt from the introduction by Andrew Feldstein, BlueMountain’s chief investment officer: “we are in the business of making comparisons. If we want […]

This week’s readings / links include a look at corporate funding for the Nutrition Society of Malaysia, Raghuram Rajan on central banks’ year of reckoning, thoughts on debt-trap diplomacy, inside China’s vast new experiment in social ranking and a conversation with Charlie Munger. Merry Christmas! In Asia’s fattest country, nutritionists take money from food giants: When […]