Stonehage Affluent Luxury Living Index 2009

Stonehage Affluent Luxury Living Index, or SALLI is an index to measure the inflation experienced by High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) individuals and families. It’s Sterling-based.

PDF file : SALLI 2009

One key highlight is that SALLI actually falls by an average of 3.7% in 12 months ended on April 09, compared to average inflation rate of 2.3% of UK’s CPI over the same period. This is under the background of significant fall in the value of Sterling against USD and Euro. SALLI deflation will be even greater if not for this reason. In a way, recession affects HNW/UHNW individuals spending. In another way, it’s “cheaper” to live as HNW/UNHW individuals now.

We can take a glimpse of luxury industry through SALLI.

It’s eye-opening to see what the High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) live on. This can be seen from the component items of SALLI from the pdf file. (Check out the items, the brands etc…)

It’s really an extremely big gap between HNW/UHNW and the masses. :-)

Nordic Capitalism (2)

I have previously blogged on Nordic Capitalism.

While doing some searches on internet, I found some insightful lecture notes on Nordic Capitalism.

Great read !

WSJ top 20 most influential business thinkers

WSJ top 20 most influential business thinkers

The Top 20 mentioned are:
1. Gary Hamel
2. Thomas Friedman
3. Bill Gates
4. Malcolm Gladwell
5. Howard Gardner
6. Philip Kotler
7. Robert B. Reich
8. Daniel Goleman
9. Henry Mintzberg
10. Stephen R. Covey
11. Jeffrey Pfeffer
12. Peter M. Senge
13. Richard Branson
14. Michael E. Porter
15. Michael S. Dell
16. Geert Hoftstede
17. Clayton M. Christensen
18. Jack Welch
19. Tom Peters
20. Myron S. Scholes
20. Ikujiro Nonaka

There are some that I haven't heard of..

Peter Bernstein

Just saw a news article that Peter Bernstein, an economic consultant and historian, a guru in risk management and modern investment theory, dies on 5 June 2009, at the age of 90.

Peter Bernstein Inc.

He is a proponent of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). Though EMH is controversial among investors, it's still an important concept in investment.
He has written many books (refer to Peter’s Book from the website above). Many of his books are "bridges" between academic theory and methods in investment industry; good reads to understand history of risk management and modern investment theory.

Among these books, many are classics, for examples:

• Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street
  (This book traces the historical development of modern investment and finance theory.. A list of who-is-who in modern investment theory, for e.g..Harry Markowitz, William Sharpe, Fischer Black, Myron Scholes, Robert Merton, Franco Modigliani, Merton Miller and a lot more..)
• Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
  (This book traces the historical development of risk and risk management.)
• The Power of Gold: The Story of an Obsession
  (This book is on obsession of gold.)

A video clip (from McKinsey's website) of Peter Bernstein talking on risk.

The Great Singapore Sales 2009

The Great Singapore Sales 2009 is around the corner, 29 May to 26 Jul 2009 (such a long time).

It’s not advisable to go for a spending spree, especially if someone is financially tight.
But if you happen to be in Singapore and is searching for some bargains that you think you need or wish to re-sell for some profits, try the website.

The information in "Promotions", "Events", "What’s on Sale" and "Coupon and Ads".
There is a "Tourist Privilege Card" in the "Tourist Specials" section.

Now that there is a first case of A(H1N1) virus in Singapore, will the Great Singapore Sales 2009 achieve its goals ?

Singapore Exchange – buying-in by CDP

Just to have a glimpse the magnitude of buying-in (related to naked shorts) in Singapore Exchange market.

CDP buying-in information
For everyday, it comes with 2 files. One is during the morning (at about 10:30), showing "buying-in securities"; one is after the market closed, showing "buying-in executed on".

Just take a look at how much are the $ amount of naked shorts (intentional or accidental) that translate to buying-in:

21 May: $290k (with CHARTEREDSC 124k unit buying-in, $ value = $247k, amazing)
20 May: $467k
19 May: $516k
18 May: $424k

Wow !

Investment books from Princeton University Press

Princeton University Press is a useful resource for books.

Books reviews, table of content, sampler chapter in PDF format and sometimes podcast/vodcast are available for books published by Princeton University Press.

Its blog is a good way to get updated news on Princeton’s new books launches, authors’ interviews and other activities. I added the blog to my Investment Bloglist.

There is also a new book email newsletter where you can select the field you are interested in. New books email updates will be sent to your email Inbox. The available fields directly applicable to investment will be Economics and Finance.