To restore their confidence, we need to be transparent about these new financial players and instruments, from sovereign wealth funds to exotic investments.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has been a vocal player in the wrangling over Glencore's takeover of Xstrata, which faces a Monday deadline to decide on a sweetened offer.
"There is other demand for such assets — Middle East sovereign wealth funds, the Japanese and big players inside the euro zone such as the big insurers which need to place their money in safe, guaranteed debt," Ms. Xu said.
Thus, we believe there is still life in the takeover market for UK infrastructure assets, with purchasers likely to be primarily from wealthy Far eastern entities, from Sovereign Funds and other, similar, cash-rich players.
The European media is merely reflecting the increasingly overwrought language of economists and market players trying to cope with a sovereign debt crisis that just seems to get worse.
Savills said many of the big players in central London, such as sovereign wealth funds and international private equity houses, chose to remain on the sidelines, giving some private investors from the Middle East the opportunity to snap up property.
"It was the name of the sovereigns under whom this country became a world player - in the 19th Century, defeating Napoleon, and in the 20th Century, winning two world wars.
The firm also became the latest U.S. financial player to accept an investment from a sovereign foreign investment fund, after it announced China Investment Corp. (CIC) will shell out about $5.5 billion for a 9.9% stake in the brokerage.
With wealth comes power and, through their sovereign wealth funds, the various Gulf states have also become major players on global capital markets.
Pressed for details, Marcel Ospel, UBS's chairman, described the Middle Eastern investor as "a prime player," and later as "as good an address" as Singapore's sovereign fund.
