Friday, December 27, 2019
Federal Retirement Thrift presses on with TSP China investment
ANBOUND
Statement:
Foreign capitals
push rising share prices and stock market appears bullish in China, even the
U.S. federal pension attracted. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB)
has recently made the decision to invest in an international index fund,
including Chinese listed companies. The Board administers nearly US$ 600 billion
Thrift Savings Plan for 5.5 million federal employees, including lawmakers,
White-House officials and military personnel. How much is US$ 600 billion? It
is around 4.2 trillion yuan RMB, equivalent to 70% of the total market capitalization
when A-share closed on November 15 (approximately 5.94 trillion yuan RMB). (Source:
Global Times, 17 November 2019.)
Fact-Checking:
Misleading. According to the news, people are inclined to
believe that the US federal retirement plan will take a considerable percent of
US$ 600 billion directly to invest in the A-share market. Actually,
the retirement plan may only invest in several international index funds related
to Chinese listed companies, and that's pretty small. Furthermore, this kind of
investment done or not shall be decided by whether the American politicians would
allow it to pass.
Fact-Checking