Striving for a Better World

ICI Argent–a Hong Kong based environmental technology oriented private equity firm–has been selected to represent Los Angeles, California based investment banking firm International Energy Capital Corporation for large scale project financing in the Philippines.

“U.S. standards, U.S. investors.  That’s how we roll.  If you’re a project manager you may be 60-90 days away from having your project fully funded on very competitive terms,” says group representative Paris Murray.

“Although we’re keen on ‘all things renewable’, our group is particularly fond of geothermal.  For those in renewable energy, geothermal is the ‘new nuclear’”.

]]> http://investphilippines.org/2010/06/05/ici-argent-awarded-u-s-backed-large-scale-project-financing-business/feed/ 0 Paris E. M. geothermal plant 1 http://investphilippines.org/2010/05/06/ici-argent-enters-philippin-venture-capital-arena/ http://investphilippines.org/2010/05/06/ici-argent-enters-philippin-venture-capital-arena/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 10:52:11 +0000 Paris E. M. Murray http://investphilippines.org/?p=3243 ]]>

Striving for a Better World

ICI Argent LLC, South East Asia’s first environmental technology focused venture capital firm, is scouting for extraordinary entrepreneurial talent in the Philippines and nearby countries.

“What are we looking for?” cites group representative Paris Murray.  “In a nutshell:  ground breaking, game-changing, and economically compelling technologies and business ideas which are socially responsible, improve the quality of life, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.”

Based out of Hong Kong, the ICI Argent team includes the top micro-cap emerging technology IPO specialist from Australia, as well  as home-grown capital markets maverick Dennis Eala, the former General Counsel of the Philippine Stock Exchange and evangelist for Philippine entrepreuneurialism.

“We are in a somewhat extraordinary position.  I can’t think of any one else in the region who can start with a revolutionary seed -  stage entrepreneurial idea, originating in the Philippines for instance, and obtain several million dollars in foreign funding.”

–Paris Murray, ICI Argent

ICI Argent is pursuing co-investing opportunities in South East Asia with like-minded U.S. venture capital firms.

]]> http://investphilippines.org/2010/05/06/ici-argent-enters-philippin-venture-capital-arena/feed/ 0 Paris E. M. Environmental Technology http://investphilippines.org/2010/05/05/vanguards-quant-disaster/ http://investphilippines.org/2010/05/05/vanguards-quant-disaster/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 03:02:39 +0000 Paris E. M. Murray http://investphilippines.org/?p=3233 ]]> .

John Bogle help us.

Vanguard Group Inc., the largest U.S. provider of stock and bond funds, is deciding whether to keep Axa Rosenberg Group as manager for about $1.5 billion of its assets, after that firm said a “coding error” disrupted its quantitative investment process.

“We’re taking a very hard look at that relationship, but we’re still in fact-finding mode,” Rebecca Katz, a spokeswoman for Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard, said in a telephone interview. Axa Rosenberg, a unit of Paris-based insurer Axa SA, manages assets for three Vanguard funds.

Axa Rosenberg told clients in an April 15 letter that founder Barr Rosenberg is taking a  30-day leave of absence and director of research Thomas Mead will resign within a year, after an error in the model used to select investments was found in June last year.
Senior executives failed to report the error, which was corrected between September and November, in a “complete and timely manner,” according to the letter.

Oops.  Maybe they should be calling John Bogle out of retirement.

SOURCE:  BLOOMBERG

E. M. Murray. Customized Stock Portfolios. Fixed Downside Risk. Professional Management.

INVEST PHILIPPINES strives to provide excellence in professional service to its clients.

The purpose of collecting data from clients is in order to provide professional fiduciary services.

E. M. Murray observes a strict code of ethics and maintains a policy of strict confidentiality of all personal data submitted by clients whether by mail, email, fax or through information provided via consultation.

E. M. Murray reserves the right to verify information supplied voluntarily by clients as part of “know your client”best practices, anti-money laundering protocol, and due diligence checking procedures.

Client data is retained for a number of years in order to assist in the event of any legal requirements. All client information is held in strict confidence and is not revealed to 3^rd parties, for any reason, unless legally obligated to do so.

Due Diligence Helps

Bad Boys What You Gonna Do: Anti Money Laundering Protocol

E. M. Murray. Customized Stock Portfolios. Professional Managment. Fixed Downside Risk.

RECOMMENDED.

Not for wimps, the lazy, or the faint-of-heart.

Perhaps the most widely quoted work by industry professionals.

Awesome in every sense of the word.

RECOMMENDED

Interesting insights from a pre-high frequency prop trading perspective.

This is a totally different angle from your typical retail trading experience.

RECOMMENDED.

“The greatest benefit of mechanical trading systems is their ability to reprogram traders away from destructive types of behavior in favor of successful trading habits.”

–Richard Weissman

Perhaps W. Edwards Deming said it best: “If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

I can count on one hand the number of traders I’ve met on the Philippine Stock Exchange trading floor who can describe every facet of their trading as a process.  True, some veterans can kick butt trading ‘by their gut’ but they are few.  I suspect the majority let their emotional state or whims of the moment play a inappropriately large role in putting on trades.

If you’re serious about your trading, you’ll systematize what you’re doing.

RECOMMENDED

.

The renown author of The Psychology of Trading and student of peak performance training explores professional trading as a performance discipline.

“‘Can anyone become a successful trader?’

What most people want to hear when they ask this question is ‘Of course. With persistence and motivation, you can succeed.’

That, however, is nonsense.”

–Brett Steenbarger

My fave chapter:  Find Your Performance Niche As a Trader

RECOMMENDED

If I was forced to jettison my entire trading library and keep ONE BOOK, this would be it.

RECOMMENDED.

.

You’ll never look at fundamental analysis the same way again.

.

Levitt served as Chairman of the S.E.C. longer than anybody.  Unlike the folks who replaced him in recent years, he’s the real deal and worth listening to.

After reading his inside-perspective on the Street, you’d likely conclude that only a moron would blindly accept analyst or ratings agency recommendations, or the figures reported in financial statements, without some other means of confirmation.