Summary: The following write-up jots down some notes about capital, the size of the global market, about allocators of capital, both the largest asset managers and asset owners. Followed by the changing role of capital – modern day vs the original purpose of capital as funding growth, both in terms of valuation expansion as well
Another way of living Beginning a series exploring a few wonderful ideas/ initiatives from the market and the real world, which show another, better way to solve the same difficult problems that the rest of the world faces. Ideas that are commercially viable as well as long-term sustainable and seem to build something positive for
Thirty-six sketches of the world, through the brush-strokes of Japan. We took a holiday in Japan in November. Our first family trip to Japan – much awaited destination and much awaited vacation. Inspired by Hokusai’s Thirty-Six views of Mt. Fuji and my general curiosity and keenness to understand Japan through numbers, here are thirty -six
Newspapers began life in Europe in the early 1600s. Although centuries before the printing press, an idea of a daily paper circulated in Rome, and China had imperial bulletins for bureaucrats in 200 BC. Soon, this idea of newspapers reached England and then the colonies, US. Over time, with the growth of newspapers, the larger
Around the world, who are the largest asset owners? Generally, the large ones are Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, OCIOs (Outsourced Chief Investment Office), University Endowments, Charitable Foundations. The top 100 Funds/Asset owners have USD 23.4 trillion under management. For quick context, global wealth is ~ USD 454 trillion. And global GDP is USD 96
A few threads for macro context: Global Wealth: Thread Pension Assets/ Australia: Thread Top 10 stock exchanges: Thread Sovereign Wealth Funds: Thread Sustainable Development Goals: Thread 1 (Goals 1 -10), Thread 2 (Goals 11-17) Top few economies: Top few African economies: Thread Top few South American economies: Thread Top few European economies: Thread Top few Asian economies: Thread
“Oil is a natural resource formed by the decay of organic matter over millions of years. And like many other natural resources, oil cannot be produced, only extracted where it already exists. Unlike every other natural resource, oil is the lifeblood of the global economy. The world derives over a third of its total energy
Political leaders have so frequently cried wolf over budgetary spending that voters are skeptical about talk of budgetary crises. This is unfortunate, since deficits should arouse genuine concern, particularly as their size in some industrial countries is daunting. Yet, the absolute size of deficits is not their most alarming aspect. Rather, the persistence of budgetary
How much energy does the world consume? “We are really, when you count performance and tabulate behaviour, not supercomputers but a lot like locusts, little chafing dishes maybe, small woks, modest ovens, simple furnaces, barbecue pits and picnic grills: we consume. A universe is burning – a forest for our flame.” For perspective on
Berkshire Hathaway is in an interesting business. Of owning, investing, operating companies. One can look at it as a really large PE fund working with its own capital, an open-ended platform. And yet, compared to a PE fund, the range of investments can be so much better. There is no limit on check size (which
