The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea

In the UK it is obvious that there is no possibility of continuing with budget deficits of some 13% of GDP, the present prospect if no action is taken.

Unfortunately however the recent UK Budget produced no credible plan for dealing with this problem. It swept it into the lap of the new government after the May election, whatever that government is.

The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. The UK cannot delude themselves that rapid resumed growth will lead to a rapid return of the previous revenue streams. UK growth in most forecasts, ours included, is projected as slow. In our view there is a good reason: the continuing shortage of oil and raw materials worldwide prevents rapid growth for the world

as a whole and since emerging market economies are continuing to grow rapidly that restricts the growth possibilities in countries like the UK and other developed countries.

We are already seeing inflation spread into China and otheremerging countries, forcing a tightening of policy.

It seems likely that this tightening will be enough to restrain world growth to rates that will not push commodity prices much higher. So even the fast-growing world economies are being forced to limit their growth ambitions; as for the UK they are achieving ‘recovery’, but hardly enthusiastic growth.

All this will only change when innovation in raw material use has freed up net world supplies.

Fortunately the flexibility of the UK labour market has restricted the jobs fallout. Unemployment has peaked below 8% (just over 5% on the benefit-claimant measure) as people have opted for wage freezes or cuts and shorter hours … so there is underemployment but not the disaster of double-digit unemployment rates. But this environment is one in which tax revenues will not recover much and in which the demands for public spending will continue.

Time will tell how big the ‘structural deficit’ … that will emerge once the recovery is complete … may be.

But policy decisions cannot wait until this is better known. So in this Budget the need was to produce a five-year public sector adjustment plan.

Two things should guide this plan: keeping the taxes down and competitive, so that growth and innovation resume, and restoring efficiency in public spending.

The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. Spending cuts To begin with the last, the current government unleashed a massive surge in public spending from 2000, raising it by 8% of GDP before the crisis raised it by more again.

Everyone knew that without reform and gradual increases, such money would be wasted; there is no practical way to spend such vast sums without raising wages and wasting money on speculative projects.

Productivity in the public sector duly slumped and public sector remuneration including pensions has surged past the private sector where market forces suggest pay should be higher to reflect greater insecurity.

The UK and the Budget: Shaw Capital Management Korea. To reduce public spending back to where it started in 2000 as a share of GDP (at around 36%) would require it to grow in real terms by about 16% less than real GDP over the next five years. Since total GDP growth over that period is likely to be about 10%, that means that spending must be cut by about 1% a year in real terms.

This is a feasible target. The UK Treasury under Gordon Brown became a brute instrument of spending increase, oddly somewhat against the protests of some departments worrying about wasteful effects. The UK Treasury was never traditionally like this … very much the opposite, a place from which wringing money was like getting blood from stones.

It should be returned to its traditional function of restraint; Treasury control, old-style, is the best instrument for forcing departments to find the economies they privately know they can make.

Portfolio Recommendations: Shaw Capital Management Korea

We have made no changes in the balance of our portfolios this month. The strength of the equity markets is encouraging, and we expect that the global economy will continue to recover, and push the markets even higher by year-end.

Portfolio Recommendations: Shaw Capital Management Korea. Market Developments. Economies virtually everywhere have been recovering for some months; the question is what to do post-crisis. For some, like Ireland, Iceland and Latvia, there is little option but severe and immediate public sector retrenchment. For most however there is a choice: on the fiscal side

cuts (or tax rises) now, or later spread over a long period. On the monetary side, continued printing of money or cessation and even reversal. In fact this is one of those periods when the ‘independence’ of central banks, that is their independent authority to set interest rates and

the extent of money printing, is a disadvantage for the economy, all of which need at present careful coordination of monetary and fiscal policy.

Portfolio Recommendations: Shaw Capital Management Korea. There has been an increase in the risks in the bond market; the current situation, with the latest attempts to resolve the Greek debt crisis achieving only limited success, and a sudden weakening in the world bond market emphasising the funding problems that are affecting the entire bond market.

Portfolio Recommendations: Shaw Capital Management Korea. Independence of Central Banks. Economies virtually everywhere have been recovering for some months, the question is what to do post-crisis. For some, like Ireland, Iceland and Latvia, there is little option but severe and immediate public sector retrenchment.

For most however there is a choice: on the fiscal side cuts (or tax rises) now, or later spread over a long period. On the monetary side, continued printing of money or cessation and even reversal. In fact this is one of those periods when the ‘independence’ of central banks, that is their independent authority to set interest rates and the extent of money printing, is a disadvantage for the economy, all of which need at present careful coordination of monetary and fiscal policy.

At Shaw Capital Management we give you the information and insight you need to make the right investment choices. We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.

Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.

Before Shaw Capital Management South Korea launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).

Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.

Shaw Issues Statement on Events in Japan

BATON ROUGE, La., Mar 13, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) issued the following statement regarding the recent events in Japan:

"On behalf of all Shaw employees around the world, I give our deepest sympathy to the people of Japan. This is an extraordinary tragedy, and we can only imagine how painful and challenging this time is for everyone in the country," said J.M. Bernhard Jr., Shaw's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
"To aid in the humanitarian efforts, Shaw has made a significant contribution to the American Red Cross, and I personally have directed all of our employees, including our team of nuclear experts, to stand ready to provide any assistance and support that we can to the government and people of Japan in responding to this terrible event.
"While it is premature to speculate on any impact the events in Japan may have on the U.S. nuclear industry, we continue to believe in the importance of nuclear energy and the role it will play in the future of our country, as well as the rest of the world. The new generation technology under construction today has been designed with greater safety systems in place that will even more effectively address the challenges we are seeing in Japan. The industry consistently incorporates operating experience and lessons learned and will continue to use those insights to make nuclear energy even safer.
"At this time, we do not believe there will be an impact on Shaw's nuclear projects currently under construction in the United States and China. Our customers have indicated they intend to move forward, and we believe the construction timelines will continue as planned," said Mr. Bernhard.
The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SHAW) is a leading global provider of engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, remediation and support services for clients in the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response industries. A Fortune 500 company with fiscal year 2010 annual revenues of $7 billion, Shaw has approximately 27,000 employees around the world and is the power sector industry leader according to Engineering News-Record's list of Top 500 Design Firms. For more information, please visit Shaw's website at www.shawgrp.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about our current and future prospects, operations and financial results, which are based on currently available information. Actual future results and financial performance could vary significantly from those anticipated in such statements.
Among the factors that could cause future events or transactions to differ from those we expect are those risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2010, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended February 28, 2010, May 31, 2010 and November 30, 2010, and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Please read our "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements contained in these filings. Our current expectations may not be realized as a result of, among other things:

• Changes in our clients' financial conditions, including their capital spending;
• Our ability to obtain new contracts and meet our performance obligations;
• Client contract cancellations or modifications to contract scope;
• Worsening global economic conditions;
• Changes to the regulatory environment;
• Litigation or arbitration decisions;
• Failure to achieve projected backlog.

As a result of these risks and others, actual results could vary significantly from those anticipated in this press release, and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, the occurrence of certain events or otherwise.
SOURCE: The Shaw Group Inc.
The Shaw Group Inc.
Media and Financial Contact:
Gentry Brann, 225-987-7372
gentry.brann@shawgrp.com

Shaw Capital Factoring VS Bank Loan

Factoring is Different From a Bank Loan in Raising Cash by Eve Garcia. Companies can sell their invoices to raise cash rather than go down the bank loan route.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing provide same-day-funding. We can help you meet your cash flow needs immediately without entering into a long term factoring relationship. The money you get for the freight bills we purchase is payment in full. Shaw Capital helps you to avoid costly mistakes, online scam, fraud and other identity theft transactions before you knew it.

More organizations and companies are selling invoices to a third party as a means of raising funds.

The financial process known as factoring is where a business sells its accounts receivable - its invoices - to a third party for immediate payment but receives less in return than the value of those invoices.

This system is usually used by a company when its available cash balance is not sufficient to meet its existing commitments or other cash needs such as fresh orders or contracts. It allows the business to maintain a smaller ongoing cash balance, though by selling the invoices for a lower amount than they are actually for.

The invoice is sold to a third party called a factor, and this is where the approach is different from a bank loan when it comes to a business looking to raise funds.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing - Factors make money available even in circumstances where a bank may be less willing to do so.

This is primarily because they are more concerned with the creditworthiness of the debtor - the business or organisation that is required to pay the invoices for the goods or the services delivered by the invoice seller.

In contrast, banks tend to focus more on the creditworthiness of the borrower when looking to lend.

Factoring is seen as a calculated risk by many firms and one they enter into for a specific reason.

The down side is that they are offloading their invoices for less than their face value, but the return is that they are getting the money owed to them much more quickly than they would have done if they had simply pursued the buyer of their goods direct.

A number of companies operate specifically in the factoring and invoice discounting business and actively contact companies and organizations that they believe will benefit from such services.

These firms look to promote a number of benefits of the services they offer to the invoice seller. They suggest that the process is a way to get access to money quickly and safely and that it also avoids the difficulties and inconveniences that can be involved in collecting bad debt.

It is also promoted to potential customer firms as helping to facilitate and smooth out cash flow and as a way of borrowing money that is secured by their debt.

Once the factoring business takes on the invoice and the debt, it has the responsibility of collecting payment. It makes its profit by paying the invoice seller less cash than the face value of the invoice.

It is worth "shopping around" when looking to engage the services of a such a firm, since the market is competitive, with estimates suggesting that in the UK alone it is worth in the region of £200 billion a year, and fees vary.

There are a variety of reasons for this, with a significant fact being the risk associated with the invoices that are purchased.

Before taking on the invoice, the factor will conduct various levels of research. This will include looking into the track record of the debtor firm to assess whether it is creditworthy or has a history of bad payment. Once taken on, the factor will then seek payment from the debtor.

Factoring is used across a wide spectrum of business organisations and more recently the practice - which has a history stretching back to the 14th century in England - has been adopted by government bodies.

Today in the UK, factoring is used in some form by around 50,000 companies as a means of releasing finance.

Shaw Capital Management: Brazil’s Economy

Brazil’s economy emerged from a deep but short recession in the second half of last year. The economy is expected to grow by at least 5.5% this year. But along with economic growth, expectations of higher inflation have also returned.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s  Economy - The government’s target for annual consumer price inflation is 4.5%. To contain inflation Brazil’s central bank has raised banking reserve requirements on term deposits from 13% to 15%. In addition to the increase in reserve requirements, the bank also restored additional charges on cash and term deposits to 8% from 5% and 4%, respectively.

According to the Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles, the changes were necessary to neutralize the impact of excess liquidity brought by reserve requirement reductions made in 2008, amid the onslaught of the global financial crisis. However, for the central bank it would be a politically difficult task to raise interest rates in the run up to Brazil’s presidential, congressional and other elections in October.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s  Economy - The government has launched a new investment trust to invest in the domestic Brazilian economy. BM&F Bovespa, the São Paulo equities and derivatives exchange is to raise its stake in the CME Group of Chicago, the

world’s biggest exchange group, to 5% in an attempt to attract more institutional and retail investors to Brazil.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s  Economy - The plan for the two exchanges is to work together to develop a new multiasset electronic trading platform based on the CME’s Globex system.

President Lula da Silva, the most popular President in Brazilian history, would like to see October’s presidential election as a plebiscite on his eight years in power. He is asking voters to transfer his success to Ms Dilma Rousseff, his chief minister, whose candidacy has been endorsed by his Workers’ party (PT).

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Brazil’s  Economy - Ms Rousseff is further to the left than the present administration, but she has pledged not to make a sudden change of direction. The investors andvoters believe her so far.

We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.

Our goal is to provide consistent quality investment advice to our clients. Although the stock market provides many facets of opportunity for today's investor, there are always just a few stellar markets or niche companies at any given time. It is true that in a healthy market, investments yield favourable returns in a given growth area. The key is to pick those investments that are driving the trends and will become tomorrow's brightest stars.

One problem is proper allocation of research resources. It is true there is power in numbers, and teams of researchers will generally spot and confirm trends that the individual investor would miss. But on the other hand, too broad of an effort will squander research resources and loose sight of those special investments in an overwhelming sea.

Developing Strategic Research Capital. By having broad and robust resources, then viewing and deploying those resources in a multi-dimensional fashion, a balanced research model is created yielding greater and more focused results. In short, Research Capital. To achieve this result, research is targeted to different dynamics of the market rather than a flat view of just general market trends.

Market trends are viewed across a broad spectrum for change and interaction with associated segments, and then for life and duration of changes.

From this initial analysis comes the ability to focus resources on those segments and opportunities that will shine brightest and meet your investment goals. This is the result of a properly developed research program yielding the greatest return of Research Capital, in short a wealth of specific focused knowledge to provide the depth of advice you need to make the right decision.

At Shaw Capital Asset Management your investment is important to us. That same care in managing our Market Analysis Research Strategy provides you with the information you need to make the right choice. 

Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary

Equity Markets. All the major equity markets, and most of the emerging markets, have moved higher over the month. Wall Street has provided most of the momentum, encouraged by optimistic comments from the Fed and by the flow of favourable corporate results.

Markets in mainland Europe have responded, despite the uncertainties about debt defaults; the UK market had coped well with a disappointing Budget statement that has left all the difficult

decisions until after the forthcoming general election; and the best performance amongst the major markets has occurred in the Japanese market as it has recovered from earlier weakness.

Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary. Financial Markets. The mood in the financial markets has become more optimistic again over the past month. There are still concerns about the prospects for the some economies; and the latest agreement amongst the member countries of the euro-zone to offer help to Greece “if this becomes necessary” has been received with considerable scepticism in the markets. This has not really eased the fears about the possibility of sovereign debt defaults. But there have still been no significant moves towards

“exit strategies” by central banks and governments, and so monetary and fiscal policies remain stimulatory, and this has helped to reassure investors that the global economic recovery will continue,  Even if the pace in the Euro zone is disappointing.

Government bond markets have had another difficult month. The latest agreement amongst the member countries of the euro-zone to offer help to Greece has not been well received, Greek bonds have continued to weaken, and this has provided further momentum to the switching operations out of the bonds of weaker countries. For most of the past month these switching operations benefited the major bond markets; but towards month-end a series of disappointing auctions led to a sharp fall in the world bond market and increased the overall mood of uncertainty. The massive funding requirements resulting from the measures to counter the recession are clearly putting great strain on all the bond markets.

Movements amongst the major currencies have been fairly limited over the past month, but the markets remain very uncertain. The dollar has retained its “safe haven” status, despite the sudden weakness in the world bond market.

Investors and traders have awaited further evidence about debt problems in Europe that might affect the euro, and about the policy decisions in the UK after the general election that might affect sterling; but the view in the markets seems to be that both currencies will fall further against the US dollar. The yen has also weakened over the month, with the move attributed to the resumption of “carry-trade” operations financed by cheap yen borrowings.

Short-Term Interest Rates. There have been no changes in short-term interest rates in the major markets over the month.

Shaw Capital Management Newsletter: Summary. Commodity markets have been encouraged by the general improvement in sentiment, but have produced a mixed performance. Base metal prices are sharply higher, but soft commodity prices are mixed, with the further big fall in sugar prices as the main feature.

At Shaw Capital Management we give you the information and insight you need to make the right investment choices. We look forward to working with you and being the open architects of your financial well being.

Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.

Before Shaw Capital launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).

Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.

A true open architecture firm is completely independent of the rest of the financial services industry and accepts compensation only from its clients. In addition, open architecture firms must make the financial commitment to hire only the most experienced advisors, and those advisors must apply their experience to the issues that will most affect their clients' wealth.

Matters like asset allocation and manager search are simply too important to be left in the hands of young analysts. We are proud of our role in leading the open architecture revolution, and look forward to introducing you to its benefits.

Shaw Capital Financing on International Purchase Order Financing

For Canada, UK and beyond - On this challenging economy you are looking into new territories, markets and industry channels, some of those may be based outside the US. Unlike most purchase order financing companies, we work with businesses seeking growth in foreign markets such as Canada, Mexico, UK and Asia. Whether you are looking for PO financing in Canada, purchase order financing in Mexico or PO funding throughout the EU, our international PO financing program is designed to assist your business to grow and expand in the global marketplace.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing sharing information, tips and advice on factoring and accounts receivable financing and factoring to avoid scams and other fraudulent transactions. Information focus on the importance of choosing the right firm and understanding the intricacies of this financing alternative and what pitfalls to avoid.

What is purchase order financing?

Every business faces the challenge of managing cash flow. One tool to make it easier is purchase order financing. It gives you access to working capital in a manner that is quick, convenient and affordable. Companies use purchase order funding to support an expansion, handle a large order or surge in business, and even occasionally for operating expenses. The tool is particularly well suited to newer companies that cannot get authorized for a traditional business loan. Manufacturers, distributors, importers and exporters are good examples. Let’s say your suppliers want you to pay cash on delivery, but your customer won’t pay you until 60 days after they receive your finish product - a classic cash flow problem, which purchase order financing is designed to solve. Here are some other applications:

Inexperience in generating financing

Lack of working capital

Need to keep suppliers and customers separate

Desire to avoid credit risk (PO financing is not considered debt)

Immediate sales need calls for fast response

Profit opportunity

How does purchase order financing work

Purchase order financing involves issuing letters of credit to suppliers of finished or non-finished goods, based on specific, tangible goods that have been presold to a creditworthy end customer. It can help you deliver on time, increase market share, and grow without selling equity or incurring bank debt. You will need to supply financial information about your company, customer and supplier. We take care of the rest, usually offering approval and getting your short-term funding to you in as little as two weeks. You can use this cash flow management tool to meet future growth opportunities, too -once your account is set up, the process is faster still.

About PurchaseOrderFinancing.com

PurchaseOrderFinancing.com serves as the link between small businesses and the working capital they need to seize an atypically large business opportunity. This website is the newest addition to the structured finance firm founded by Dan Casey in 2002 which develops and implements creative financial strategies for commercial clients with working capital challenges. Dan Casey, Founder and CEO. A graduate of DePaul University in Finance, Dan has orchestrated an extraordinary career in starting and building businesses.

Taiwan’s Economy: by Shaw Capital Management Korea

With gross domestic product clocking 10.2% growth from a year ago in the fourth quarter, and 4.2% from the previous quarter, Taiwan returned to pre-financial crisis growth levels. In spite of the strong recovery in the second half of the year, Taiwan’s economy still shrank by 1.9% in 2009. The government expects GDP to grow 4.7% this year, an upward revision from its previous forecast of 4.4% growth. With rising new orders Taiwan’s economy has entered a sustained expansion cycle.

Taiwan’s exports rose 75.8% in January to US$21.75 billion from US$12.37 billion a year earlier and imports in January more than doubled to US$19.25 billion from US$8.97 billion a year earlier.

Taiwan had a trade surplus of US$2.49 billion in January, bigger than the government forecast of a US$1.93 billion surplus. The island had a trade surplus of US$1.65 billion in December.

Taiwan will lower investment barriers for its technology companies to do business in China. This sector is the latest to benefit from tighter economic ties between the mainland and the island.

Shaw Capital Management – New Economy - Although we have seen an explosive decade of growth and cycle in the economy, the bombs have been filtered out leaving the economy poised for steady and certain growth. Smart money is now wise to the problems the past few years, lessons have been learned, and the best investments are now at hand.

We have seen extraordinary growth in technology, but at the same time a buffering and selection process in industry. Although the infrastructure is stable for the moment, there are new technologies emerging, which would otherwise have been lost in the chaotic trends of recent times. This settling of the infrastructure will allow these new technologies to become visible more easily, but fast response time is critical.

Poised for Growth. Based on the stabilized infrastructure and upswing and recovery in the economy, business is poised for an explosive period of growth as smart money now focuses in on those business models and innovations designed for success. These select companies are key to your financial growth and your future wealth.

But how to determine which companies are the movers. Short term trends only show day to day trading and market momentum. These are important indicators to a markets early acceptance of a company. The real key is having industry knowledge, and understanding how a company fits into the evolving New Economy over time.

What is required is a group of professionals working together sharing, discussing, and evaluating those market trends and the companies which will be filling the needs of industry over time. Through careful research the Shaw Capital Asset Management Korea staff of investment professionals document and compare the relative strengths of the hottest new companies and affiliates. Staff origins and histories are reviewed. Only those companies with the strongest and most consistent foundations are considered. From those companies with strong foundations of support, the technology and product offerings are then compared in search of the stellar products which address industry needs for a stable fit into the economy, but also do so in a fashion which goes beyond just "filling a gap" in the market. In other words, a strong company and equally strong and visionary products. This type of dedication and selection is what allows us to be a driving force behind the evolution of the New Economy.

Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy

South Korea’s output is continuing to accelerate, and the government needs to exit from its accommodative economic policies earlier than anticipated. The HSBC Korea’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose from 55.6 in January to 58.2 in February — the highest since December 2007. New orders are coming in, and there are rising backlogs of unfulfilled orders.

Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy - Employment too is rising suggesting that the current pace of growth will be sustained for the next several months. Inflation paced a little with consumer prices up 3.1% in January from a year earlier. But inflation in Korea is likely to remain stable for some months.

The central bank is expected to tighten its monetary policy by starting to raise interest rates from the current record low of 2% in the later part of the second quarter as the government retains its focus on job creation and growth.

Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy - Exports expanded 31% year on year, better than Reuters’ forecast of 22.7%. South Korea posted a much larger-than-expected

trade surplus of $2.33 billion in February as ship deliveries boosted exports, while imports fell as holidays reduced crude oil and natural gas demand.

The government expects a monthly trade surplus of more than $1 billion from March as demand improves. The current-account surplus is most likely to dwindle to around $17 billion this year from $42.7 billion in 2009 as imports rise. A new Bank of Korea governor, widely expected to be a more pro-government figure, will not rush to raise rates after taking office

in April.

Exports grew 31% from a year earlier to $33.27 billion, faster than the expected rise of 21%, while imports climbed 36.9% to $30.94 billion, exceeding a forecast of an expansion of 34.0%.

South Korea, which is heading the G20 group of leading economies wants to leave an imprint of its presidency.

Shaw Capital Management: South Korea’s Economy - It is trying to introduce a system of international currency swaps which it hopes will reduce global imbalances by lessening the need for countries to accumulate reserves, seen as one of the causes of last year’s financial and

 economic crisis.

Shaw Capital Management - Every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor. Our philosophy is simple: almost every investor will achieve better long-term risk-adjusted results by working with a true open architecture advisor.

Before Shaw Capital launched the open architecture revolution, investors had to make the unhappy choice between selecting an advisor who was independent, but unsophisticated (the traditional pension and endowment consulting firms), or selecting an advisor who was sophisticated but had conflicting interests (global banks, trust companies, money management firms).

Today, virtually all investors faced with the challenge of managing a significant pool of capital can access open architecture advice.

A true open architecture firm is completely independent of the rest of the financial services industry and accepts compensation only from its clients.

In addition, open architecture firms must make the financial commitment to hire only the most experienced advisors, and those advisors must apply their experience to the issues that will most affect their clients' wealth.

Matters like asset allocation and manager search are simply too important to be left in the hands of young analysts.

We are proud of our role in leading the open architecture revolution, and look forward to introducing you to its benefits.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: World Economy and Raw Material Shortages

Shaw Capital Management Korea: World Economy and Raw Material Shortages - We have seen major developing economies like China and India apply the brakes earlier this year, as inflation grew on the back of commodity shortages.

World growth was running at 4.5%, only 1% or so below the record growth rates of the mid-2000s. This was too fast for raw material supplies to accommodate with current technology.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: - World productivity growth has been slowed down by this raw material shortage … this in our view was the cause of the sharp slowdown in 2006 which in its turn caused the collapse of demand for houses in the US and so the sub-prime crisis.

It will take a decade for new technology and possibly new supplies to allow renewed productivity growth; with plentiful supplies of raw materials this was the era of computer-led growth in productivity.

As growth has been slowed worldwide, so already slow growth in developed countries has slowed even further. This is inevitable.

If these countries were to speed up, demand for commodities would rise faster, spurring sharp price rises, which in turn would force them to slow back down.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: - It is convenient to focus on shortage of credit and excess debt post-banking crisis. But the fundamentals would not permit much growth even if there were plenty of credit and no debt; if the latter situation were the case, then monetary policy would need to tighten. As it is monetary policy can remain easy with the banks in endless disarray.

Seen against this background, the slowdown is natural and should not surprise us. Equally natural is that equity markets are settling, while bond yields fall, with inflation being held down and return on capital depressed by slow productivity growth.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: World Economy and Raw Material Shortages - However, none of this implies a return to recession in OECD countries. This would be prevented by a return to quantitative easing and even a deferral of fiscal tightening. Governments and central banks in the OECD are under no pressure from inflation to force down activity. Debt/GDP ratios are rising and this is forcing fiscal tightening. But the pace of this is a matter of choice.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: World Economy and Raw Material Shortages - “As far as monetary policy is concerned, the need remains to stimulate recovery of the banks since they remain the primary channel of intermediation”

Furthermore there are investment opportunities in the present environment: high returns to technological advance in commodity use, for example, and to exploration for new sources of supply.

Exports are growing well, as capital goods flow to the fast-growing developing world. Consumption is no longer depressed but rather beginning to grow.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: World Economy and Raw Material Shortages - As far as monetary policy is concerned, the need remains to stimulate recovery of the banks since they remain the primary channel of intermediation, despite all the ways in which firms and individuals have managed to find alternative finance sources since the banking crisis.

This points to further quantitative easing. Interest rate policy has become irrelevant; the rates at which private loans are being made bear little relation any more to the rates of interest on government short-term loans.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: The very low rates central banks are charging banks for loans are merely a subsidy to banks; better instead to release banks from the neurotic demands currently being made by regulators for much more capital, for greater caution in loan-making and so on.

Meanwhile it is time to restore official interest rates to their proper function as regulators of the private rate of interest; they should now be raised towards more normal rates.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1

Japan’s economic recovery appears to have faltered unexpectedly sharply during the second quarter of this year. The government’s preliminary GDP statistics put the real quarter-to-quarter growth rate at 0.1%, which translates into an annualised 0.4%, marking an expansion for the third consecutive quarter.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1 - This represents, however, a striking slowdown from the 0.4% quarterly growth, or annualised 4.4% growth, recorded in the preceding three months. It also fell far short of the median forecast of private-sector economists of annualised 2.3% growth over the preceding period.

Moreover, in nominal terms Japanese GDP has fallen behind China’s: US$1,336.9 billion for China against US$1,288.3 billion for Japan for the quarter.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1 - Looking at individual demand components, the domestic economy was sluggish, with the exception of private capital expenditure. Private non-residential investment grew by 0.5%, almost the same as in the previous quarter, on the back of improved profits. However, private residential and government investment spending declined sharply by 1.3% and 3.4%, respectively.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1 - The contribution of inventories to GDP growth declined by 0.2 points. This is a bit surprising given the acceleration in imports, and might indicate that there is still room for an upward revision of growth at the next release.

Officials were particularly disturbed by the slowdown of personal consumption. Although the growth in consumer spending had been shored up by the government subsidies, such as those for the purchase of energy-efficient cars and the eco-point incentive program for purchasers of eco-friendly home electric appliances, the effects of these policies apparently wore off during the quarter.

The eco-car subsidies and eco-point system are due to end by the end of September and the end of this year respectively. Meanwhile, even though major corporations are awash with cash, they are extremely cautious about capital investment in view of uncertainties about the domestic and overseas economic situation.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1 - Exports, the prime driver of growth, rose 5.9% on strong demand from Europe. But the pace of growth slowed from a 7.0% rise in the previous quarter amid signs of an economic slowdown in China, one of the biggest destinations for Japanese exports.

It is well-known that Japanese GDP data are volatile and subject to drastic revisions in both directions. Nevertheless, these data suggest that the economy has slowed considerably.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Japan’s Economic Growth Slowed Again Part 1 - This has raised concern that the nation’s economic recovery may come to a standstill in the latter half of the fiscal year in the midst of an evident global slowdown of recovery.

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