Qatar Said to be Buying New York's Plaza Hotel for $600m

The Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue (Central Park South) in midtown Manhattan, which opened its doors in 1907, is currently 75% owned by Sahara India with the remainder owned by Kingdom Holdings.
It is down the road from the Ritz-Carlton Central Park.

Qatar's Katara Hospitality is said to be buying full ownership, would add an iconic American hotel to its collection. Katara's investments include 50% holding in The Savoy and an investment in The Connaught in London.

Angolan President's Daughter Cleared to Head State Oil Company

Isabel Dos Santos was appointed to head Angolan state oil company, Sonangol, in June, but this was disputed by twelve lawyers as nepotism, since the appointment was made by her father, the President, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. The Supreme Court has now ruled the action as lawful. The President has also appointed his son to chair Angola's $5bn sovereign wealth fund (FSDEA) which was been established in line with the "Santiago Principles" explicating good governance in the context of SWFs. The first of these principles is the legal framework of the fund should be sound, and the second, is that the policy purpose should be clearly defined and publicly disclosed.

Low Oil Prices Lead to Wealth Fund Consolidation

IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company), formed in 1984, is planning to merge with Mubadala Development Company PJSC (Private Joint Stock Company), according to the Emirates news agency (WAM).

Qatar mulls Morgan Stanley's Commodities Business

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani (Prime Minister since April 2007) is contemplating a potential stake in Morgan Stanley's Commodities Business, which could benefit both parties in terms of information sharing.The business is run by Colin Bryce (who started his career at the British National Oil Corporation, bought by BP in 1988) and Simon Greenshields (who has specialized in gas and power).

Qatar Holding LLC is an investment arm of the QIA, which has an interest in investing in commodities (which owned 12% of Xstrata, run by CEO Mick Davis, as of end August 2012). Mick honed his financial and board-leading skills as CFO of Billiton PLC.

Chancellor lets Branson buy NorthernRock - Good or Bad for Taxpayers?

Branson attempts to make a "silk purse out of a sow's ear", by paying £747m cash for the bank, a third of which will be funded by the state. Branson's Virgin Money is investing together with Stanhope Investments, a unit of the Abu Dhabi national fund. The deal comes 5 months after UK finance minister George Osborne (aka Chancellor of the Exchequer), who studied Modern History at Oxford, put N-rock up for sale.

A word on the role of the Chancellor..it is one of the FOUR Great offices of State, which comprise, the Prime Minister, the COTE, the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary.

James Callaghan (PM: 1976-1979) is the only person to have served in all four offices. Prior to PM he was Chancellor (1964-1967) wrestling with BoP deficit and speculative attacks on GBP. He was ousted by Maggie Thatcher's Conservatives in 1979 following the "winter of discontent".

UKFI (UK Financial Investments) manages government stakes in bailed-out banks, established shortly after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Sir David Cooksey (creator of Advent) joined as Chairman the following year, his background is both engineering and financial entrepreneurship.

The View from Abu Dhabi's Investment Vehicle

Aabar, the Abu Dhabi investment vehicle, has sold its stake in Banco Santander's Brazil unit, in a head-shaking affront towards emerging markets, or at very least, a risk-aversive stance.

Monitoring SWF World using SWF Insitute's Newsfeed

Listing of funds and news of what they are up to. News such as Glencore selling convertibles to Blackrock, GIC and Zijin Mining Company, China's third largest copper producer. Incidentally, the bonds they issued were December 2014 and convertible into Glencore shares upon an IPO or “other pre-determined qualifying events".