While I was not privileged to attend the entire summit, I was invited by my good friend, Kan Luo, who organized a panel discussion on Day 2 of the summit to listen into an interesting discussion on Global Macro Economy. The panelists were Henry Mo (Chief Economist & Head of Market Strategy at Corebridge Financial, Maggie Meijun Wang ( Managing Director & Global Head of Structured Products Strategy, Citi), Grant Zibing Gao (Managing Director, EJF Capital & CEO EJF China), Haibu Huang ( Managing Director, Global Head of Credit Stress and Portfolio Analytics, Morgan Stanley) and the Moderator was Jing Liu (Managing Director, Jstar Capital Vice Chair, Renmin University North America Alumni Association).
The discussion was quite informative and ended too soon but the takeaways I garnered were the following:
Kan and Wayne Wayne and me!
Ms. Wang had just returned from an overseas trip to London and Paris and the Europeans still prefer to invest in the United States as opposed to elsewhere. While the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, with over 4900 Banks in the United States, the major investments with the larger banks are long term, and so they can ‘kick this all down the line’ meaning nothing is affected right now. Smaller banks issue the real estate mortgages and short term loans whereas the larger banks invest in long term investments so no concerns. In the U.S. the government cannot intervene until a bank declares bankruptcy. However, in China, if the government sees a bank failing, they can step in. It was also notes that corporate commercial real estate is stronger now than the consumer real estate market. (I would still argue though that all real estate is local!).
It was noted by the panel that the issue of Taiwan is not a democratic issue but rather an issue of sovereignty and territory. Taiwan does not wish to be a part of mainland China is common knowledge. However, China is trying to attract the younger Taiwanese population to the mainland but it is harder to travel there.
It was noted that there are border disputes between India and China and that China is close friends with Pakistan.
Another small point was on Tik Tok. There has been so much discussion here on the subject and how there are certain Chinese companies that have access to everyone’s profiles. However, what we do not realize is there is an Espionage law in China which basically translates to that whatever you do in China, China has access to. Therefore, what we may see as being infringing on our rights, it is in fact a cultural difference.
It was a very interesting afternoon, and I greatly enjoyed being there! On another note, the new business building is called the David Geffen Building and is a beautiful modern structure. One of the sponsors was OLEADA (a beautiful line of handbags – Our name “OLEADA” is derived from the Spanish word for “ocean waves”. Deeply embedded in our identity, the ocean has given us numerous inspirations with a special place in our hearts. As a brand committed to sustainability, we are dedicated to doing our part to save the ocean from human pollution.) The Co-founders of this company are Tiffany and Tracy and Maye Musk has designed a limited collection.
Overall, it was notes that there is confidence in the economy!
Westchester is Great!