|
|
Author Archive
During a recent dinner in Dubai, a longstanding colleague of mine from the private banking business asked, “What do you think of Islamic wealth management as an enterprise model?”
I was stumped. Not because I haven’t thought about it, but because it had been so long since I’d heard the question. These discussions were more common in the pre-credit crisis era, when the liquidity cycle was peaking. They have all but evaporated in the current environment. …continue reading
The visitor to the nation of Georgia continually encounters images by Niko Pirosmanashvili (1862-1918), known as Pirosmani and considered a master of naïve painting. His portraits of Georgians enjoying daily life a century ago—peasants, fishermen, musicians, even millionaires—pop up everywhere as restaurant murals and tourist mementos. And even occasionally as the original artwork.
It is noteworthy, then, that Pirsomani’s sense of the ordinary extended to a man in oriental costume holding the tether of a Bactrian camel. Tartar Cameleer evokes the Silk Road, suggesting that the commonplace extended to caravans passing through Tiflis (now Tbilisi). In view of the painting’s 1914 date, the cameleer image may have been nostalgic, but it is a vivid, if rustic, indication of Georgia’s longstanding role as trade junction between Central Asia and Europe.
From the perspective of global investment strategy, Pirosmani’s portrait of the camel driver conveys the cosmopolitan nature of the Georgian economy. His worldview prevails into the present day as Georgia looks both East and West to affirm its progressive identity.
…continue reading
The credit crisis laid bare several longstanding tenets of the investment business, including that market prices are largely efficient, established markets are better regulated, and the biggest economies offer less risk. While elements of these issues remain true, we still face disjointed financial markets, generating incoherent answers to routine questions. One of the latest manifestations of this trend may have been the Dubai fiasco. Uncertainty and confusion abound.
There are few unified stories across the world today; Australia stands among them. Certainly the dimensions of its investment substance may surprise those distant to the story. Consider these points of uncommon knowledge:
- The four largest Australian banks are all rated AA (stable) by S&P, placing them within the top 3% of banks globally on a credit-quality basis.
- Australia’s largest trading partner is China, with the rest of Asia, including India, Korea, and Japan, amounting to some 50% of exports.
- Australians have the largest pool of investment fund assets in Asia, more than 45% greater than Japan.
From an investor’s standpoint, we identify themes that suggest the relevance of Australia to a prudent, risk-adjusted portfolio strategy.
…continue reading
Overcoming Aerophobia: Where the Islamic finance sector stands in the current climate: Islamic Finance in Practice, Winter 2009
Bad economies, of course, are not necessarily bad markets. Investment gains presumably anticipate economic growth, based on relatively more positive demand expectations and business confidence. While no one seems prepared to be anticipatory nowadays, we can still find straightforward ways to put cash to work.”
…continue reading
 Kolkata is a proud multi-cultural city, a fulcrum of the Indian intellectual tradition. Its personalities have included Subhash Chandra Bose, a freedom fighter, Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Prize-winning poet, and Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu spiritual leader. For legacy reasons, the National Library of India is housed here, not in New Delhi. It is also home to the Calcutta Madrassah, the oldest educational institution in the city.
The Calcutta Madrassah is a proud building, sensibly designed. It opened in 1824 off Haji Mahammad Mohsin Square, some 50 years after the founding of the original Islamic college. On approach through the compact urban turmoil surrounding it, the building looks like some sort of Alexandrine temple complex. Overpowering Doric columns flanking the main entrance direct you inward, where two floors of classrooms surround a courtyard. At the far end of this attempt at a grassy space, there is a lone water hand-pump. Despite its somewhat topsy-turvy condition, the Calcutta Madrassah is a haven of peace in the tightly-knit urban landscape.
…continue reading
If the United States economy were a hospital, its patients would run the risk of addiction to the fiscal equivalent of Demerol, the high-powered painkiller. Whether the nation can maintain the current course of treatment without severe side effects, let alone withdrawal symptoms, is a quandary facing investors who are presented with a mixed set of economic and market symptoms.
Over the past year, the government has served as white knight to the auto industry, tried to stimulate the housing industry with tax credits, and pumped untold additional billions into the financial system. Congressional legislation meanwhile has been chock-full of spending programs in an attempt to amplify the wave of hand-outs. When combined with the Federal Reserve’s asset-purchase program, the total stimulus package has amounted to almost 20% of GDP. The figure is staggering by developed-world standards. …continue reading
After some 15 years of travelling in and out of Kuala Lumpur, I finally had a chance to visit nearby Bukit Batu and its famous caves. My Malaysian colleagues had little interest in joining me: “Why would you want to climb all those steps?” A visitor does indeed navigate 272 of them to reach the principal cave; fortunately, they are divided into groups
of 17.
“Bukit Batu” means “Stone Hill” in Malay. This limestone outcrop is best known for a labyrinthine complex of some 18 caves. Of the few open to the public, the best known is the enormous Temple Cave. The complex was discovered by Europeans in 1878 and was heavily quarried until the 1970s, when the government began to protect it for tourism.
The half-day trip to the Batu Caves offered some reminders of our own global investment strategy. Metaphorically, we see themes in geology, archaeology, and ecology. These may be worth exploring as we look deeper into 2009 and a probable economic recovery in 2010. …continue reading
Beyond the Suitcase Banker, May 2009. Presented by Douglas Clark Johnson to the International Bar Association Conference on the Globalization of Investment Funds, Bermuda.
…continue reading
Business Islamica, May 2009
Fear is a powerful emotion, especially when there is no sense of individual control. Perhaps the best way to conquer that fear is to keep focused on key lessons from previous downturns. For sure, this may be the worst recession in our generation, but we can still learn from past experience.”
…continue reading
Islamic Finance News, April 19, 2009
Experts have urged the Islamic finance industry to seek new areas of business to develop its portfolio and increase earnings in the current challenging economic environment. What new areas should be considered, what impact will they have on the Islamic finance industry in general and what contribution will they make to the global financial stability?”
…continue reading
|
Redirecting the Call for Action
by Douglas Clark Johnson
20 May 2010
During a recent dinner in Dubai, a longstanding colleague of mine from the private banking business asked, “What do you think of Islamic wealth management as an enterprise model?”
I was stumped. Not because I haven’t thought about it, but because it had been so long since I’d heard the question. These discussions were more common in the pre-credit crisis era, when the liquidity cycle was peaking. They have all but evaporated in the current environment. …continue reading
Tags: credit crisis, Dubai, financial leaders, Islamic banking, macro trends, wealth management
Posted in Analysis, Commentary | Comments Off