I DON'T WANT TO BE TOO CONSPIRACY THEORY----BUT MANY OF THE 'CATEGORIES' ARCHIVED TIED TO THIS SITE ARE NOW EMPTY WHERE THEY WERE ONCE FULL.
Please check the archived postings as I start replacing those posts missing.
BELOW IS WHAT POLS FROM ERHLICH TO O'MALLEY HAVE BEEN DOING AND IT IS WHY ELECTIONS ARE CAPTURED AND FRAUD AND CORRUPTION RAMPANT.
Today I want to revisit the idea of who is pushing all of the public private partnerships in Maryland and why. I spoke generally about communications yesterday and today I want to talk public utilities. Waste and water are one of the last public utilities left and the plan in Maryland is to privatize them. Can you imagine a global corporate investment firm owning control of our water and waste?
MEET HIGHSTAR INVESTMENT FIRM AND VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL CORPORATION AND THE COMMON DENOMINATOR----JOHNS HOPKINS AS MAJOR SHAREHOLDER.
High Star used to be connected to AIG but was spun off as AIG headed to bankruptcy from massive corporate fraud. All those hundreds of billions of dollars AIG earned on credit-default swaps (CDS) insuring against losses when the subprime mortgage industry collapsed -----ALL INVOLVING FRAUD-----was funneled into separate investment firms so these gains would not be lost in bankruptcy. This is a Bains Capital-style gutting of a healthy corporation of assets and then sending it to bankruptcy scheme. Well, guess who was heavily invested in HighStar AIG while all the fraud was happening? IVY LEAGUE UNIVERSITIES AND THEIR ENDOWMENT FUNDS. These endowment fund values soared because of all of the fraud connected to AIG and that is why we heard that Ivy League Trusts were in the billions of dollars as is true of JOHNS HOPKINS. So, if Rule of Law had brought all of the fraud back as it should------Ivy League Trusts would be broke. Instead they are super-sized as all that money stayed with them and became the next stage of investment.
Christopher Hoiles Lee
is Founder and Managing Partner of AIG Highstar Capital, a fourth generation fund manager, was formed in 1998 to make value added, operationally focused private equity investments in infrastructure and has invested over $5 billion for its limited partners and co-investors.
Lee graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1974 with a BA in history. He attended the London School of Economics during 1975. Prior to founding Highstar,. his career in finance began in 1977, including periods with Chase Manhattan and Lehman Brothers, and as CFO of a NYSE listed company based in Mexico City, Grupo Tribasa. He has a particular expertise in public private partnerships, and appears in the media on infrastructure related issues.[1]
Recently he co-authored an Op Ed for Politico with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Ports America's recent 50-year PPP in the Port of Baltimore.
He serves as a member of both the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins. and the Dean's Advisory Board for the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is also a Vice Chair of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York.
________________________________________________
All of this is important because HighStar has been connected with buying infrastructure corporations like waste and water and recently bought VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL now here in Baltimore ready to privatize Baltimore's water and waste. Waste is already privatized for the most part with HighStar's waste corporations. When we had an incinerator protest in Baltimore because it would burn hazardous waste----LIKE HOSPITAL WASTE----this was a HighStar project taking over more of public waste business. Keep in mind that the public pays taxes to receive free waste pickup but that changed when rates for waste went higher and this connection with HighStar and its waste corporations are the culprit. Maximizing profit by subsidizing corporate operations.
As Baltimore and Maryland works to privatize all of our waste collection it now moves to our public water works and that means VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL will take this public utility in the guise of public private partnership. Can you imagine a Wall Street investment firm controlling our water works policy and reaping all of the investment money from the Federal government for infrastructure building? THE FRAUD WILL BE TREMENDOUS WHEN WALL STREET IS INVOLVED IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. That is where this is going. So, an investment firm made rich on subprime mortgage fraud of which Baltimore was hit hardest.....is now setting the stage to make it rich on our water infrastructure. Keep in mind that all this infrastructure was originally built with public money and remained a public utility during the Great Works Era. What neo-liberals and neo-cons have planned is to have the public pay for what will become privately owned.
Below you see when these deals happened-----2006-2007, just before the economic collapse in 2008.
AIG Highstar Capital Announces the Acquisition of Utilities, Inc. from Nuon.
NEW YORK -- Hydro Star, LLC, a subsidiary of AIG Highstar Capital II, L.P. and certain of its affiliates (Highstar II), has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the stock of Utilities, Inc. from a subsidiary of n.v. Nuon (Nuon). Hydro Star and Nuon entered into a stock purchase agreement dated May 14, 2005.
Utilities, Inc. is a water and wastewater utility holding company based in Northbrook, Illinois. It has almost 300,000 customers located in 17 states, with a principal focus in the high growth areas of the Sunbelt.
Highstar II is a group of private equity funds that invest in infrastructure related assets and businesses. Highstar II is sponsored by AIG Global Investment Group (AIGGIG). AIGGIG member companies are subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
Nuon is a large energy company based in the Netherlands, active in the generation, marketing, sale and distribution of electricity, gas, and heat, as well as related products and services. The divestment is in line with Nuon's strategy to concentrate its energy business in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
AIGGIG Chairman and CEO Win J. Neuger stated, "We have long considered water infrastructure as an attractive investment opportunity and an excellent complement to Highstar II's existing energy infrastructure portfolio. Utilities, Inc. is a leader in this industry and we are pleased that Highstar II has the opportunity to acquire this business from Nuon.".
The transaction for the purchase of Utilities, Inc. is expected to close in early 2006 and is subject to customary conditions, including the receipt of Hart Scott Rodino approval and other regulatory approvals.
AIG Global Investment Group comprises a group of international companies which provide investment advice and market asset management products and services to clients around the world. AIGGIG member companies are subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is the world's leading international insurance and financial services organization, with operations in approximately 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG member companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through the most extensive worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks of any insurer. In the United States, AIG companies are the largest underwriters of commercial and industrial insurance and AIG American General is a top-ranked life insurer. AIG's global businesses also include financial services, retirement services and asset management. AIG's financial services businesses include aircraft leasing, financial products, trading and market making. AIG's growing global consumer finance business is led in the United States by American General Finance. AIG also has one of the largest U.S. retirement services businesses through AIG SunAmerica and AIG VALIC, and is a leader in asset management for the individual and institutional markets, with specialized investment management capabilities in equities, fixed income, alternative investments and real estate. AIG's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the stock exchanges in London, Paris, Switzerland and Tokyo.
_____________________________________________
Here you see the amount of fraud included in those credit default swaps insuring what everyone knew was subprime mortgage loans infused with fraud and known to be toxic waste.
Why is this important? This entire scheme is planned to move all real estate------the subprime mortgage fraud and economic collapse that is sending more and more people into foreclosure----but it sets the stage for pretending governments are so stressed as to require that they be privatized.
REMEMBER, SIMPLY REINSTATING RULE OF LAW BRINGS BACK TENS OF TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CORPORATE FRAUD TO OUR GOVERNMENT COFFERS AND INDIVIDUAL'S POCKETS.
There is no need for any public sector cuts or privatization.
AIG REPORTS $2.7 BILLION NET LOSS
ATTRIBUTABLE TO AIG FOR THE
SECOND QUARTER OF 2010 DRIVEN BY RESTRUCTURING-RELATED
CHARGES; CONTINUING INSURANCE OPERATING INCOME REMAINS STABLE
NEW YORK, NY, August 6, 2010 – American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today
reported a net loss attributable to AIG of $2.7 billion for the second quarter of 2010, or $(3.96)
per diluted common share, compared to net income of $1.8 billion, or $2.30 per diluted
common share, in the second quarter of 2009. The second quarter 2010 loss was primarily due
to a $3.3 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge included in discontinued operations.
Second quarter 2010 adjusted net income was $1.3 billion (compared to $1.1 billion in
the second quarter of 2009), including operating income of $2.2 billion from continuing
insurance operations, Mortgage Guaranty operating income of $226 million, $604 million in
income from the Asia life insurance operating segment (principally American International
Assurance Company, Ltd. (AIA)), and fair value gains on Maiden Lane III of $358 million,
partially offset by interest and amortization on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
(FRBNY) Credit Facility and third party debt, invested asset impairment charges and other net
restructuring and legal settlement charges, and a decrease in the net deferred tax asset.
_____________________________________________
The plan is to have VEOLA ENVIRONMENT take many city water utilities and in fact, here in Baltimore they are already writing all of the plans for the city's infrastructure upgrade coming probably next year. They are waiting for the Trans Pacific Trade Pact to pass Congress so global corporations can come to the US for all the Federal funds designated for these infrastructure projects and HighStar/VEOLA will be right there.
I have talked quite a bit about the dangers of SMART METER technology and water and waste will be captured by this along with our natural gas and electricity and as I show------HighStar is the one behind all these corporate connections and Johns Hopkins is the majority shareholder that will earn billions of dollars and control of most of our public utilities. THIS IS WHAT WE CALL A CORPORATE STATE. The public in Maryland knows they have no say in all of these policies now completed behind closed doors.
Highstar Capital Agrees to Buy Veolia Unit for $1.9 Billion
By Jeffrey McCracken and Sonja Elmquist Jul 19, 2012 3:07 AM ET Bloomberg Financials
Aug 1Sep 1Oct 1Nov 1Dec 1Jan 1Feb 1Mar 1Apr 1May 1Jun 1Jul 17.5010.0012.5015.0017.50* Price chart for VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT. Click flags for important stories. VIE:FP9.3507/19/12 Highstar Capital, a U.S. infrastructure fund, agreed to buy Veolia Environnement SA (VIE)’s U.S. waste-management business for about $1.9 billion.
The transaction will cut Veolia’s net debt by $1.8 billion, the Paris-based world’s biggest water company said today in a statement. After the deal it will have completed 60 percent of its 5 billion euro ($6.1 billion) divestment plan, it said.
Highstar, the infrastructure-focused private equity firm once affiliated with American International Group Inc. (AIG), beat bids from buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Brazilian conglomerate Estre Ambiental SA, said people familiar with the matter prior to the announcement.
Veolia is shedding the unit as it tries to cut debt by 20 percent to 12 billion euros by the end of next year. Chief Executive Officer Antoine Frerot said last month he wants to focus on “promising” countries and will pursue asset sales in the U.S. and U.K.
“The transformation of Veolia is progressing as planned,” Frerot said in the statement.
Veolia shares rose as much as 4 percent to 9.58 euros in Paris. The shares traded at 9.50 euros at 9:04 a.m. local time.
Cost Cuts Veolia plans to cut operating costs by 120 million euros in 2013 and narrow its geographic reach. On June 28, Veolia sold its U.K. regulated-water business to Infracapital Partners for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion).
The deal “will create a strong company with compelling growth prospects,” Highstar Capital Founder and Managing Partner Christopher Lee said in a separate statement. Highstar’s U.S. waste business will operate in 20 states with annual revenue of about $1.4 billion, it said.
Veolia ES Solid Waste Inc. has more than 300 locations that provide hazardous and non-hazardous waste management and industrial cleaning services, the company said on its website.
Highstar already operates U.S. waste management businesses Advanced Disposal Services Inc. and Interstate Waste Services Inc, according to the New York-based company’s website.
________________________________________
Coincidence that Ivy Leagues are heavily invested in real estate and infrastructure even as it is riddled with fraud and all knew an economic crash was coming-----REALLY? Maybe they went all out because the people making sure no losses for the rich occurred with the fraud and collapse were appointed by Bush and Obama and happen to be from Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League universities which are also Wall Street human resources.
So, this entire movement of wealth and property was a scheme from the late 1980s when Reagan and then Clinton came on board and cities created their MASTER PLANS FOR REDEVELOPMENT. They infused it with fraud and corruption and brutality as they took all the gains of workers over the decades of New Deal and the soaring middle-class. IT WAS PLANNED AND DELIBERATE AS IS THE FAILURE TO EXACT JUSTICE TO BRING BACK THE FRAUD.
We do not want these people controlling our utilities or our government.
STOP ALLOWING A NEOLIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHOOSE YOUR CANDIDATES----RUN LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES. IF YOU ARE REPUBLICAN YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM IN THE NEO-CONS------
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE SIMPLY A STEP TOWARDS HANDING EVERYTHING PUBLIC TO PRIVATE HANDS.
Ultra-wealthy look to Ivy League endowment funds for investment lessons
Michael Nairne | October 16, 2012 | Last Updated: Oct 17 9:54 AM ET Financial Post
Reuters/Brian SnyderA students sits on the steps of Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in this file photo. For the 20 years ended June 30, 2011, the Harvard and Yale Endowments earned annual average returns of 12.9% and 14.2% respectively. These numbers soundly trounce the 8.3% return of a portfolio comprised of 40% bond and 60% stocks, the asset mix of a traditional pension plan.
The returns of such endowments have been enviable. For the 20 years ended June 30, 2011, the Yale and Harvard Endowments earned annual average returns of 14.2% and 12.9% respectively. These numbers soundly trounce the 8.3% return of a portfolio comprised of 40% bond and 60% stocks, the asset mix of a traditional pension plan. It isn’t only Yale and Harvard that excelled — the average large U.S. college endowment returned 10.7% annually. To put this into a Canadian context, equity-oriented, global balanced mutual funds here over the same period earned an unremarkable 5.6% per annum.
Why did endowments shoot ahead of other investors? Because they were pioneers in moving beyond the traditional staples of publicly traded bonds and stocks by shifting into alternative assets. By investing in real estate, commodities, timberland, energy, infrastructure, private equity and hedge funds, they were able to create a unique blend of diversification and growth. In fact, alternative assets now constitute the majority of endowment assets — a full 51% in 2011, whereas alternatives accounted for a meager 3% in 1992. These days, alternatives are “alternatives” in name only.
You only have to glance at the asset mix of college endowments to see how different it is from that of the typical investor. Fixed-income assets play a minor role, constituting only 10% of the average endowment portfolio. As noted in Yale’s 2010 Endowment Report, it “is not particularly attracted to fixed-income assets, as they have the lowest historical and expected returns of the six asset classes that make up the Endowment.”
Instead of bonds, many endowments have turned to hedge funds for diversification and a measure of downside protection. In fact, in 2011, 19% of endowment assets were invested in hedge funds.
It is the avid pursuit of growth that drives endowments’ stellar returns. They currently allocate 65% of their capital to equities and real assets. Patiently hunting for higher long-term returns, they are major investors in private equity, either through funds or directly acquiring companies. They also look far afield for opportunities, and invest more in international equities than domestically. And their real asset investments go far beyond real estate to include infrastructure, commodities, timberland, farmland and energy.
Wealthy families are realizing that clipping coupons from a traditional portfolio of bonds and stocks won’t cut the mustard in an era of miniscule interest rates and so-so stock valuations. Many have woken up to the fact they share the same challenges as college endowment funds — funding hefty and growing bills year in and year out while still wanting to build their wealth over the long-term.
It is, therefore, no surprise that a recent survey of ultra-wealthy families by the Institute for Private Investors found that 55% are increasing their investments in private companies. Close to half of the respondents are adding more real estate, commodities and global equities to their portfolios.
We’ve found that many of the wealthy families with whom we work are lengthening their investment horizons. With their children now in early adulthood, a truly multi-generational plan is warranted. In turn, a longer time horizon lends itself to a growth-oriented investment strategy that includes a significant global equity weighting as well as illiquid assets such a mortgage funds, direct real estate investment and private equity.
Of course, the pursuit of higher returns even in such a diversified fashion brings its share of risk. Major endowments suffered a 20.5% loss in the year ended June 30, 2009, while more aggressive funds such as Yale and Harvard, which plummeted 24.6% and 27.3% respectively, experienced even larger declines.
Many wealthy families figure that if that is the price of admission to “first in class” long-term returns, it is a cost they are prepared to pay.
Please check the archived postings as I start replacing those posts missing.
BELOW IS WHAT POLS FROM ERHLICH TO O'MALLEY HAVE BEEN DOING AND IT IS WHY ELECTIONS ARE CAPTURED AND FRAUD AND CORRUPTION RAMPANT.
Today I want to revisit the idea of who is pushing all of the public private partnerships in Maryland and why. I spoke generally about communications yesterday and today I want to talk public utilities. Waste and water are one of the last public utilities left and the plan in Maryland is to privatize them. Can you imagine a global corporate investment firm owning control of our water and waste?
MEET HIGHSTAR INVESTMENT FIRM AND VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL CORPORATION AND THE COMMON DENOMINATOR----JOHNS HOPKINS AS MAJOR SHAREHOLDER.
High Star used to be connected to AIG but was spun off as AIG headed to bankruptcy from massive corporate fraud. All those hundreds of billions of dollars AIG earned on credit-default swaps (CDS) insuring against losses when the subprime mortgage industry collapsed -----ALL INVOLVING FRAUD-----was funneled into separate investment firms so these gains would not be lost in bankruptcy. This is a Bains Capital-style gutting of a healthy corporation of assets and then sending it to bankruptcy scheme. Well, guess who was heavily invested in HighStar AIG while all the fraud was happening? IVY LEAGUE UNIVERSITIES AND THEIR ENDOWMENT FUNDS. These endowment fund values soared because of all of the fraud connected to AIG and that is why we heard that Ivy League Trusts were in the billions of dollars as is true of JOHNS HOPKINS. So, if Rule of Law had brought all of the fraud back as it should------Ivy League Trusts would be broke. Instead they are super-sized as all that money stayed with them and became the next stage of investment.
Christopher Hoiles Lee
is Founder and Managing Partner of AIG Highstar Capital, a fourth generation fund manager, was formed in 1998 to make value added, operationally focused private equity investments in infrastructure and has invested over $5 billion for its limited partners and co-investors.
Lee graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1974 with a BA in history. He attended the London School of Economics during 1975. Prior to founding Highstar,. his career in finance began in 1977, including periods with Chase Manhattan and Lehman Brothers, and as CFO of a NYSE listed company based in Mexico City, Grupo Tribasa. He has a particular expertise in public private partnerships, and appears in the media on infrastructure related issues.[1]
Recently he co-authored an Op Ed for Politico with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley on Ports America's recent 50-year PPP in the Port of Baltimore.
He serves as a member of both the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins. and the Dean's Advisory Board for the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. He is also a Vice Chair of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York.
________________________________________________
All of this is important because HighStar has been connected with buying infrastructure corporations like waste and water and recently bought VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL now here in Baltimore ready to privatize Baltimore's water and waste. Waste is already privatized for the most part with HighStar's waste corporations. When we had an incinerator protest in Baltimore because it would burn hazardous waste----LIKE HOSPITAL WASTE----this was a HighStar project taking over more of public waste business. Keep in mind that the public pays taxes to receive free waste pickup but that changed when rates for waste went higher and this connection with HighStar and its waste corporations are the culprit. Maximizing profit by subsidizing corporate operations.
As Baltimore and Maryland works to privatize all of our waste collection it now moves to our public water works and that means VEOLA ENVIRONMENTAL will take this public utility in the guise of public private partnership. Can you imagine a Wall Street investment firm controlling our water works policy and reaping all of the investment money from the Federal government for infrastructure building? THE FRAUD WILL BE TREMENDOUS WHEN WALL STREET IS INVOLVED IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. That is where this is going. So, an investment firm made rich on subprime mortgage fraud of which Baltimore was hit hardest.....is now setting the stage to make it rich on our water infrastructure. Keep in mind that all this infrastructure was originally built with public money and remained a public utility during the Great Works Era. What neo-liberals and neo-cons have planned is to have the public pay for what will become privately owned.
Below you see when these deals happened-----2006-2007, just before the economic collapse in 2008.
AIG Highstar Capital Announces the Acquisition of Utilities, Inc. from Nuon.
NEW YORK -- Hydro Star, LLC, a subsidiary of AIG Highstar Capital II, L.P. and certain of its affiliates (Highstar II), has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the stock of Utilities, Inc. from a subsidiary of n.v. Nuon (Nuon). Hydro Star and Nuon entered into a stock purchase agreement dated May 14, 2005.
Utilities, Inc. is a water and wastewater utility holding company based in Northbrook, Illinois. It has almost 300,000 customers located in 17 states, with a principal focus in the high growth areas of the Sunbelt.
Highstar II is a group of private equity funds that invest in infrastructure related assets and businesses. Highstar II is sponsored by AIG Global Investment Group (AIGGIG). AIGGIG member companies are subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
Nuon is a large energy company based in the Netherlands, active in the generation, marketing, sale and distribution of electricity, gas, and heat, as well as related products and services. The divestment is in line with Nuon's strategy to concentrate its energy business in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
AIGGIG Chairman and CEO Win J. Neuger stated, "We have long considered water infrastructure as an attractive investment opportunity and an excellent complement to Highstar II's existing energy infrastructure portfolio. Utilities, Inc. is a leader in this industry and we are pleased that Highstar II has the opportunity to acquire this business from Nuon.".
The transaction for the purchase of Utilities, Inc. is expected to close in early 2006 and is subject to customary conditions, including the receipt of Hart Scott Rodino approval and other regulatory approvals.
AIG Global Investment Group comprises a group of international companies which provide investment advice and market asset management products and services to clients around the world. AIGGIG member companies are subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is the world's leading international insurance and financial services organization, with operations in approximately 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG member companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through the most extensive worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks of any insurer. In the United States, AIG companies are the largest underwriters of commercial and industrial insurance and AIG American General is a top-ranked life insurer. AIG's global businesses also include financial services, retirement services and asset management. AIG's financial services businesses include aircraft leasing, financial products, trading and market making. AIG's growing global consumer finance business is led in the United States by American General Finance. AIG also has one of the largest U.S. retirement services businesses through AIG SunAmerica and AIG VALIC, and is a leader in asset management for the individual and institutional markets, with specialized investment management capabilities in equities, fixed income, alternative investments and real estate. AIG's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the stock exchanges in London, Paris, Switzerland and Tokyo.
_____________________________________________
Here you see the amount of fraud included in those credit default swaps insuring what everyone knew was subprime mortgage loans infused with fraud and known to be toxic waste.
Why is this important? This entire scheme is planned to move all real estate------the subprime mortgage fraud and economic collapse that is sending more and more people into foreclosure----but it sets the stage for pretending governments are so stressed as to require that they be privatized.
REMEMBER, SIMPLY REINSTATING RULE OF LAW BRINGS BACK TENS OF TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CORPORATE FRAUD TO OUR GOVERNMENT COFFERS AND INDIVIDUAL'S POCKETS.
There is no need for any public sector cuts or privatization.
AIG REPORTS $2.7 BILLION NET LOSS
ATTRIBUTABLE TO AIG FOR THE
SECOND QUARTER OF 2010 DRIVEN BY RESTRUCTURING-RELATED
CHARGES; CONTINUING INSURANCE OPERATING INCOME REMAINS STABLE
NEW YORK, NY, August 6, 2010 – American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today
reported a net loss attributable to AIG of $2.7 billion for the second quarter of 2010, or $(3.96)
per diluted common share, compared to net income of $1.8 billion, or $2.30 per diluted
common share, in the second quarter of 2009. The second quarter 2010 loss was primarily due
to a $3.3 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge included in discontinued operations.
Second quarter 2010 adjusted net income was $1.3 billion (compared to $1.1 billion in
the second quarter of 2009), including operating income of $2.2 billion from continuing
insurance operations, Mortgage Guaranty operating income of $226 million, $604 million in
income from the Asia life insurance operating segment (principally American International
Assurance Company, Ltd. (AIA)), and fair value gains on Maiden Lane III of $358 million,
partially offset by interest and amortization on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
(FRBNY) Credit Facility and third party debt, invested asset impairment charges and other net
restructuring and legal settlement charges, and a decrease in the net deferred tax asset.
_____________________________________________
The plan is to have VEOLA ENVIRONMENT take many city water utilities and in fact, here in Baltimore they are already writing all of the plans for the city's infrastructure upgrade coming probably next year. They are waiting for the Trans Pacific Trade Pact to pass Congress so global corporations can come to the US for all the Federal funds designated for these infrastructure projects and HighStar/VEOLA will be right there.
I have talked quite a bit about the dangers of SMART METER technology and water and waste will be captured by this along with our natural gas and electricity and as I show------HighStar is the one behind all these corporate connections and Johns Hopkins is the majority shareholder that will earn billions of dollars and control of most of our public utilities. THIS IS WHAT WE CALL A CORPORATE STATE. The public in Maryland knows they have no say in all of these policies now completed behind closed doors.
Highstar Capital Agrees to Buy Veolia Unit for $1.9 Billion
By Jeffrey McCracken and Sonja Elmquist Jul 19, 2012 3:07 AM ET Bloomberg Financials
Aug 1Sep 1Oct 1Nov 1Dec 1Jan 1Feb 1Mar 1Apr 1May 1Jun 1Jul 17.5010.0012.5015.0017.50* Price chart for VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT. Click flags for important stories. VIE:FP9.3507/19/12 Highstar Capital, a U.S. infrastructure fund, agreed to buy Veolia Environnement SA (VIE)’s U.S. waste-management business for about $1.9 billion.
The transaction will cut Veolia’s net debt by $1.8 billion, the Paris-based world’s biggest water company said today in a statement. After the deal it will have completed 60 percent of its 5 billion euro ($6.1 billion) divestment plan, it said.
Highstar, the infrastructure-focused private equity firm once affiliated with American International Group Inc. (AIG), beat bids from buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Brazilian conglomerate Estre Ambiental SA, said people familiar with the matter prior to the announcement.
Veolia is shedding the unit as it tries to cut debt by 20 percent to 12 billion euros by the end of next year. Chief Executive Officer Antoine Frerot said last month he wants to focus on “promising” countries and will pursue asset sales in the U.S. and U.K.
“The transformation of Veolia is progressing as planned,” Frerot said in the statement.
Veolia shares rose as much as 4 percent to 9.58 euros in Paris. The shares traded at 9.50 euros at 9:04 a.m. local time.
Cost Cuts Veolia plans to cut operating costs by 120 million euros in 2013 and narrow its geographic reach. On June 28, Veolia sold its U.K. regulated-water business to Infracapital Partners for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion).
The deal “will create a strong company with compelling growth prospects,” Highstar Capital Founder and Managing Partner Christopher Lee said in a separate statement. Highstar’s U.S. waste business will operate in 20 states with annual revenue of about $1.4 billion, it said.
Veolia ES Solid Waste Inc. has more than 300 locations that provide hazardous and non-hazardous waste management and industrial cleaning services, the company said on its website.
Highstar already operates U.S. waste management businesses Advanced Disposal Services Inc. and Interstate Waste Services Inc, according to the New York-based company’s website.
________________________________________
Coincidence that Ivy Leagues are heavily invested in real estate and infrastructure even as it is riddled with fraud and all knew an economic crash was coming-----REALLY? Maybe they went all out because the people making sure no losses for the rich occurred with the fraud and collapse were appointed by Bush and Obama and happen to be from Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League universities which are also Wall Street human resources.
So, this entire movement of wealth and property was a scheme from the late 1980s when Reagan and then Clinton came on board and cities created their MASTER PLANS FOR REDEVELOPMENT. They infused it with fraud and corruption and brutality as they took all the gains of workers over the decades of New Deal and the soaring middle-class. IT WAS PLANNED AND DELIBERATE AS IS THE FAILURE TO EXACT JUSTICE TO BRING BACK THE FRAUD.
We do not want these people controlling our utilities or our government.
STOP ALLOWING A NEOLIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHOOSE YOUR CANDIDATES----RUN LABOR AND JUSTICE IN ALL PRIMARIES. IF YOU ARE REPUBLICAN YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM IN THE NEO-CONS------
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE SIMPLY A STEP TOWARDS HANDING EVERYTHING PUBLIC TO PRIVATE HANDS.
Ultra-wealthy look to Ivy League endowment funds for investment lessons
Michael Nairne | October 16, 2012 | Last Updated: Oct 17 9:54 AM ET Financial Post
Reuters/Brian SnyderA students sits on the steps of Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in this file photo. For the 20 years ended June 30, 2011, the Harvard and Yale Endowments earned annual average returns of 12.9% and 14.2% respectively. These numbers soundly trounce the 8.3% return of a portfolio comprised of 40% bond and 60% stocks, the asset mix of a traditional pension plan.
The returns of such endowments have been enviable. For the 20 years ended June 30, 2011, the Yale and Harvard Endowments earned annual average returns of 14.2% and 12.9% respectively. These numbers soundly trounce the 8.3% return of a portfolio comprised of 40% bond and 60% stocks, the asset mix of a traditional pension plan. It isn’t only Yale and Harvard that excelled — the average large U.S. college endowment returned 10.7% annually. To put this into a Canadian context, equity-oriented, global balanced mutual funds here over the same period earned an unremarkable 5.6% per annum.
Why did endowments shoot ahead of other investors? Because they were pioneers in moving beyond the traditional staples of publicly traded bonds and stocks by shifting into alternative assets. By investing in real estate, commodities, timberland, energy, infrastructure, private equity and hedge funds, they were able to create a unique blend of diversification and growth. In fact, alternative assets now constitute the majority of endowment assets — a full 51% in 2011, whereas alternatives accounted for a meager 3% in 1992. These days, alternatives are “alternatives” in name only.
You only have to glance at the asset mix of college endowments to see how different it is from that of the typical investor. Fixed-income assets play a minor role, constituting only 10% of the average endowment portfolio. As noted in Yale’s 2010 Endowment Report, it “is not particularly attracted to fixed-income assets, as they have the lowest historical and expected returns of the six asset classes that make up the Endowment.”
Instead of bonds, many endowments have turned to hedge funds for diversification and a measure of downside protection. In fact, in 2011, 19% of endowment assets were invested in hedge funds.
It is the avid pursuit of growth that drives endowments’ stellar returns. They currently allocate 65% of their capital to equities and real assets. Patiently hunting for higher long-term returns, they are major investors in private equity, either through funds or directly acquiring companies. They also look far afield for opportunities, and invest more in international equities than domestically. And their real asset investments go far beyond real estate to include infrastructure, commodities, timberland, farmland and energy.
Wealthy families are realizing that clipping coupons from a traditional portfolio of bonds and stocks won’t cut the mustard in an era of miniscule interest rates and so-so stock valuations. Many have woken up to the fact they share the same challenges as college endowment funds — funding hefty and growing bills year in and year out while still wanting to build their wealth over the long-term.
It is, therefore, no surprise that a recent survey of ultra-wealthy families by the Institute for Private Investors found that 55% are increasing their investments in private companies. Close to half of the respondents are adding more real estate, commodities and global equities to their portfolios.
We’ve found that many of the wealthy families with whom we work are lengthening their investment horizons. With their children now in early adulthood, a truly multi-generational plan is warranted. In turn, a longer time horizon lends itself to a growth-oriented investment strategy that includes a significant global equity weighting as well as illiquid assets such a mortgage funds, direct real estate investment and private equity.
Of course, the pursuit of higher returns even in such a diversified fashion brings its share of risk. Major endowments suffered a 20.5% loss in the year ended June 30, 2009, while more aggressive funds such as Yale and Harvard, which plummeted 24.6% and 27.3% respectively, experienced even larger declines.
Many wealthy families figure that if that is the price of admission to “first in class” long-term returns, it is a cost they are prepared to pay.
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