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Temasek's Fund Says Investors Crossed `Maximum Fear' |
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By Jean Chua and Simeon Bennett Bloomberg.com 27 march, 2008
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte's fund management unit said investors have passed ``the point of maximum fear'' amid the global credit squeeze and it expects to meet a target of $3 billion in assets by June.
Fullerton Fund Management, which oversees $2.5 billion of third-party money and an undisclosed amount of capital for Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, saw the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to rescue Bear Stearns Cos. from bankruptcy as a turning point, Fullerton's Chief Executive Officer Gerard Lee said.
``The Fed coming in to facilitate JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s purchase of Bear Stearns is a watershed event, and most bottoms are found during watershed events,'' Lee said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. ``From that perspective, we could have already crossed the point of maximum fear.''
The Fed stepped in with JPMorgan on March 14 to provide emergency funding to Bear Stearns in the biggest government bailout of a U.S. securities firm. Before the announcement, Bear Stearns's clients withdrew $17 billion in two days amid speculation that the firm was running short of cash.
Templeton Asset Management Ltd.'s Mark Mobius said he ``generally'' agrees with Temasek's assessment that the markets have reached a bottom.
`Damn Close'
``If we haven't achieved it, we're damn close,'' Mobius, who oversees $47 billion in emerging-market equities, said in a phone interview from Hong Kong today. ``With the kind of liquidity that's pouring into the system, with the Fed, and now the European Central Bank and others putting more money into the system, we think stock prices are not going to remain down. We think there's a good chance of growth going forward.''
For more information: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=ac2sQ.SKxlCE&refer=asia
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