Three days later, Henry Morgan took Chen Zhiwen to a building in the middle of the back of Wall Street.
"Isn't this the headquarters of Morgan Stanley?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously, looking at the building whose name had nothing to do with Morgan.
"This is Morgan Stanley, a place where VIP customers are entertained. Only long-term customers or those introduced by deep relationships can come here. Eric, you are here because of my guarantee." Henry Morgan explained Said: "Morgan Stanley's main business is investment, which is different from Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. The investment purposes of many customers will cause a huge impact on the market, either due to customer identity issues or confidentiality requirements. , it is inconvenient for such customers to be exposed. Not to mention reporters and media, even people within Morgan Stanley, the less they know about them, the better. Some well-known people will be news when they appear in one place. When they appear in Morgan Stanley , may cause a lot of stock fluctuations, so we will arrange it in a more secretive place. In fact, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers almost have such places.”
"Understood." Chen Zhiwen nodded. This is just like him in Hong Kong. If he appears in one place, it may cause some speculation from the media. But fortunately in Hong Kong, the media is still very weak. In addition, he controls TVB and Having invested in some print media, it is relatively easy to control public opinion, unless there is a big consortium going against you.
But it is different here in the United States. It is true that capital is king in the United States, but there are too many capitalists here. It is unlikely to be like Hong Kong, where there are only a few capitals. At the same time, as long as there are no major conflicts and the interests are in the same direction, how many capitals can there be? Foreign capital will also cooperate, but there are too many interest groups in the United States, and it is impossible to unify. Many media also have big capital behind them. They are not afraid of anything. Even the President of the United States can do it for you.
"Let's go, there are already people waiting for us up there." Henry Morgan said with a smile.
Several people followed Henry Morgan in. After verifying their identities, only Chen Zhiwen and an assistant were able to follow Henry Morgan up. Soon, they reached the 26th floor.
As soon as the elevator opened, there was a blond man about 40 years old waiting at the door of the elevator. When he saw Henry Morgan, he smiled and said: "Hi, Henry, hello, Mr. Chen, hello."
"Eric, this is Jim, the vice president of Morgan Stanley and a good friend of mine. This time, he will be in charge of your investment plan." Henry Morgan introduced.
"Hello, Jim." Chen Zhiwen nodded, shook hands and smiled.
"Please come inside." Jim politely stepped aside, and then several people came to a reception room together.
Henry Morgan did not go in, but said: "You two, if you go in to talk, it will be inconvenient for me to go in."
"OK." Jim nodded. The conversation with the client was top secret. Even Henry Morgan could not know it casually unless he got the client's permission.
"Then wait for us for a while, it shouldn't be very soon." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Eric, don't worry, you guys can talk slowly. There is a special SPA on the lower floor, which is exclusive for VIP members. I will go and enjoy it slowly, and you can take your time." Henry Morgan smiled and waved his hand and left.
"The 25th floor is where we provide various leisure services to VIP members. If Mr. Chen is interested, you can also check it out later," Jim said.
"Then let's talk about business first." Chen Zhiwen nodded. Since the customers here are super rich, there are also corresponding services, not just financial services.
"I heard from Henry that Mr. Chen wants to invest in futures. I don't know which one?" Jim asked.
"Gold." Chen Zhiwen said: "I want to be long in gold. My principal is US$200 million. I hope to use this as collateral to borrow US$1 billion from Morgan Stanley."
"One billion dollars to buy gold?" When Jim heard this, he immediately became energetic. This was a big deal, even for Morgan Stanley, it was a big deal.
Although the top peers in the United States all control hundreds of billions of dollars in assets, they are not actually their own. They are just trustees, using various financial means to make money for their clients and then receive a dividend from it. .
Most of these are very stable low-risk returns. For example, many large retirement funds will entrust U.S. investment banks to invest, but they will only allow the purchase of treasury bonds, debt issued by large companies, stable company stocks, etc. This kind of business, There are too many institutions that can do this. Therefore, investment banks do not make much profit in this area. It is just that because of the large base, it can form a scale effect.
Private high-risk investment is the favorite model of investment banks. Going long or short requires paying a lot of interest on funds. As long as you control the risks, you can basically make money in vain.
"Yes, it will officially start around the end of this year. There are still two months left, and I will prepare the corresponding principal." Chen Zhiwen said: "I just don't know if Morgan Stanley can be ready? "
"Don't worry, Mr. Chen, US$1 billion is nothing to Morgan Stanley." Jim said confidently.
"That's good. I need to get the interest issue and the corresponding contract as soon as possible, and then my legal department will review and verify it. If there is no problem, we can sign the contract." Chen Zhiwen nodded.
If it is just a small investment, such as tens of millions of dollars, then going to investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to go long or short is basically a standard contract, which you can sign or not. But if it reaches the level of tens of millions of dollars, it is already possible. If it affects the annual KPI of the investment manager or even this department, then there is a certain amount of room for bargaining. After all, such customers will also be the targets of other competing investment banks. And if it reaches the billion-dollar level, investment banks will come over to ask for cooperation. After all, even if a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars goes public, investment banks will fight to the death to grab business.
"Okay, I will report this matter as soon as possible. As long as I have accurate information, I will notify you as soon as possible." Jim said.
"This is my contact information." Chen Zhiwen handed over his business card. There were several phone numbers on it, corresponding to several of his assistants. There is no way. Although Big Brother has appeared for a long time now, the telecommunications infrastructure is not enough. Not every place has signals. It is still much more convenient to contact us by phone. There is always an assistant by the phone.
"Thank you Mr. Chen for choosing Morgan Stanley. I will serve you wholeheartedly." Jim said with a smile after taking the business card.
"Whether we can cooperate or not depends on the conditions you offer." Chen Zhiwen said lightly.
"I will definitely not disappoint Mr. Chen." Jim said with a smile, and then asked: "Mr. Chen, I don't know if you have any other investment intentions besides gold futures. If not, I have many investment options with very high returns. Nice project.”
After receiving the notice from his friend Henry Morgan, Jim immediately investigated all the information about Chen Zhiwen, including Costco in the United States, major shareholder of Wal-Mart, Hutchison Whampoa, Wharf, Midea and Red Bull in Hong Kong, etc. He was surprised. He discovered that, except for the Hong Kong real estate industry, which he was not very familiar with, several other companies were of very high quality. At the same time, after consulting friends in the industry, he knew that Chen Zhiwen must have abundant cash flow in his hands.
Regardless of whether there is extra funds beyond the US$200 million, just those few companies can obtain large amounts of funds from loans from other commercial banks. This is his ultimate goal, to squeeze out all the value of his customers.
"That's not necessary, but as long as we have a happy cooperation this time, I can give you priority for any projects in the future." Chen Zhiwen drew a huge pie. He naturally knew his current weight and used the future pie to dangle the investment bank. It's not bad, at least if it succeeds, it may be able to reduce the interest a little bit. For a futures loan of one billion US dollars, a little less interest is still a lot of money.
"Understood, we will definitely provide you with the best service." Jim nodded and said. It is indeed impossible to let people invest heavily in him for the first time, but there is no loss in asking. This kind of customers are actually stable. Personality is very strong. If you are used to working with one company, it is unlikely to change under normal circumstances. Investment banks in the United States have been operating for hundreds of years and have a good understanding of human nature. Many super-rich people may become incomparable if they cooperate with large investment banks a lot. I trusted you and even sent the money for investment without going through many formalities.
Of course, this will not be the majority of their assets. At the same time, several major investment banks also attach great importance to the interests of their customers. Even if they cheat customers secretly, at least they must do it on the surface. They are not ordinary hedge funds. If If their reputation is really bad, it will have a great impact on themselves. Therefore, they also attach great importance to their customers.
"That's it for today. If there is any news about the next step, I will come here again." Chen Zhiwen said.
"Okay, Mr. Chen." Jim nodded and said.
In the next half month, Chen Zhiwen went to Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank's New York branch, Barclays Bank's New York branch, and more than a dozen of the world's top investment banks through other relationship channels. After a trip, every family made a big deal, directly borrowing US$1 billion in funds, which made every family very excited, and then patted their chests and promised to give them the best discount.
It is naturally impossible to cooperate with so many banks, and the principal of selling them is not that much. In the end, you only need to choose the ones with the biggest discounts. Going long gold this time is the most important move in his layout over the years. Most of his previous investments were prepared for this day.
It’s really true that gold’s growth rate next year will be so good.
Before the 1970s, gold had been pegged to the U.S. dollar. This was one of the main contents of the Bretton Woods system. All countries used U.S. dollars as foreign exchange, global transactions were in U.S. dollars, and anyone could exchange U.S. dollars for gold in the United States.
There was no problem with this regulation during World War II, because during World War II, except for Pearl Island, other places in the United States were not threatened by war. A large amount of money and gold flowed into the United States, not to mention that the U.S. government spent a lot of money on arms, oil and other resources during the war. After selling out Germany, they sold it to the UK, and after selling out Japan, they sold it to China...
After World War II, the economies of Asia and Europe collapsed, and the United States held more than half of the world's gold. This was also the basis for the establishment of the Bretton Woods system. However, with the economic development of countries such as Western Europe and Japan, they earned a lot of dollars and a large amount of gold. The gold was exchanged, and finally in 1971, the U.S. government saw that the company was almost out of gold. President Nixon quickly abandoned the Bretton Woods system, and since then the price of gold has soared.
In 1972, the price of gold reached $66.
In 1973, the price of gold exceeded $100.
In 1975, the price of gold exceeded $180.
In 1978, the price of gold exceeded $214.
The previous few years were not outrageous, and the increase was considered normal. This is why Chen Zhiwen did not invest in gold before 1978, because the return on investment was not as good as Hong Kong real estate. By the beginning of 1979, the price of gold was only rising slowly and steadily, and Wall Street Various bearish voices are endless, and countless people do not believe that gold will continue to rise, but the facts are about to slap them hard in the face.
$300.
$400.
$500
…
The price of first-grade gold increased within two months. It was not until January 1980, when gold reached its peak of $850, that it gradually fell back after the forcible intervention of US President Carter.
The most basic logic here is that in the past few decades, the global gold reserves have not increased much, and too many US dollars have been printed. Before the 1970s, so many countries, including European countries, were running on gold because they After discovering this, the US dollar eventually had to decouple from gold, but it still could not control the price of gold.
Because the U.S. dollar lost its calibration, people no longer believed in the U.S. dollar. Until the U.S. dollar was later linked to oil, and oil prices skyrocketed after the second oil crisis, all countries needed U.S. dollars, and the demand for gold was not that strong. In addition, the U.S. government intervened. Eventually, the price of gold was suppressed within a year.
This kind of "golden" opportunity can only be compared to the third oil crisis in modern business history. At that time, oil prices soared about three times, and the time interval was shorter, making it more suitable for long positions.
As for the second oil crisis that is about to break out, because oil futures have not yet been born, there is no way to speculate. Of course, similar to the method he used to speculate on plastics during the first oil crisis, it actually works, but it is almost impossible to do it on a large scale. to the billion-dollar level, and after learning a lesson, those chemical and oil giants are not fools. Therefore, the return on investment is far inferior to gold futures.
A futures contract with such a large value is enough to attract the attention of several major investment banks. This cannot be decided quickly within a few days. After leaving some relevant personnel behind, Chen Zhiwen returned to Hong Kong again.
(End of chapter)
