Simon arrived at the Johnston family's estate on the banks of the Yarra River on the outskirts of Melbourne just before noon.
The morning call came from Anthony Johnston, but the only people who dined together were Raymond Johnston and his wife. During this period, Simon came here as a guest more than once. Janet's parents already treated him as a son-in-law, and the two sides were no longer unfamiliar with each other.
After lunch, Raymond Johnston took Simon to the study.
The two sat down on the sofa next to the window in the study room. The maid left after bringing coffee. Raymond Johnston got straight to the point: "Simon, I know you are very busy, so I won't go into details. You come in this time." , can you bring more funds?"
Simon roughly guessed the old man's intention before he came, and nodded readily: "Okay. However, Lei, because of the events in the past few days, I can't see the situation clearly now, and I can't give any guarantee. So, here It is best to only use excess funds and not affect the company’s normal operations, let alone raise funds blindly through loans.”
When Raymond Johnston heard what Simon said, his expression was a little surprised, but then he smiled and said: "Of course I understand, Simon, I am surprised that you can be so sober."
Simon also smiled and said: "The development space in entertainment, technology, fashion and other fields is already very broad. I don't plan to spend too much thought on the financial market. This time I just feel that the time is right and I want to take advantage of the trend to raise some funds. It doesn’t matter how much, so I’m not betting big.”
Raymond Johnston nodded and asked again: "So, how confident are you now?"
Simon thought for a while and said: "There should be no problem with profitability. Moreover, the various restrictive measures introduced by the Japanese government after the 87 stock market disaster ensure that the financial market will not experience sharp rises or falls in the short term. Even if the market turns, we can withdraw in time." out."
The Japanese stock market and futures market now have strict price limits. It is impossible for Simon to replicate the miracle of S&P 500 futures in 1987 on the Nikkei 225 index futures. At the same time, these restrictions also mean that if the market trend changes, investors will not suffer too much loss as long as they exit in time.
Raymond Johnston was very satisfied with the word 'we' that Simon used unknowingly, but he still restrained his expression and said: "Actually, Simon, it's not just me, there are some The business partner wants to give you some money to help with the operation."
Just in the preparation stage of "Batman", Simon has already felt the deep-rooted and powerful influence of the Johnston family in Australia. Some of the social parties held in the Johnston family's mansion clearly revealed a large network in front of Simon.
If you want to maintain such a huge network of contacts, besides friendship, interests are obviously the most solid bond.
Simon never had any thoughts of breaking up with Janet, and Janet's attitude was obviously even more so. Therefore, Simon is destined to be bound to the Johnston family. He has enjoyed the benefits of this network during the preparation of "Batman" and naturally needs to help maintain it.
However, just as he was about to nod, Simon thought of another thing and asked: "Lei, how much money can I get?"
Raymond Johnston said: "We still need your consent before we can count it, but it should be no less than 1.5 billion Australian dollars."
Simon was startled.
Living in Australia, Simon knows that the recent exchange rate of the Australian dollar against the US dollar is about 1:0.7. 1.5 billion Australian dollars, converted to 1 billion U.S. dollars, which is already twice the amount of funds Simon previously planned to use.
In the late 1980s, there were no tens of billions of hedge funds at all.
After Soros's Quantum Fund was hit hard by the 1987 stock market crash, its scale in the past two years has been less than US$2 billion. It is already a top giant in the industry, and more hedge funds only exist in the tens of millions.
If Raymond Johnston only offered 3.5 billion Australian dollars, Simon could nod directly, but if it jumped to the 1 billion level, he would not dare to take it rashly.
"That's too much, Ray, I'm not planning on running a big hedge fund."
Simon's understanding of financial markets is limited to the knowledge accumulated during the operation in 1987 and the future macroeconomic trends in his mind.
For small-scale capital operations, he can put all his chips into the stock index futures financial derivatives field that he can understand based on the information he has. Involving billions of dollars in capital operations, a single financial product will definitely not be able to carry it, but his understanding of other fields such as foreign exchange and bonds is very little, and he has no time to learn these now.
"I probably understand your concerns, Simon," Raymond Johnston said: "However, the commander of an army does not need to have superb riding skills, nor does he need to be a marksman. What he has to do is , just use your own strategies to command thousands of soldiers who are proficient in these subtle skills to win a war. The problems you face now are the same. You have a foresight and overall view that others cannot match. As for those specific and subtle things, You can definitely find someone else to do it.”
When Simon heard Raymond Johnston's words, he immediately understood where Janet's character trait of 'the superior and the hardworking' came from.
There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, and Simon said again: "But, Lei, I can't find anyone trustworthy and capable enough to operate this fund in a short period of time. James can only help me keep an eye on the existing trading team. He doesn’t know any more about it than I do.”
Raymond Johnston said: "As long as you nod your head, I can recommend some people to you."
In the 1980s, Australia's economy was still very small, but with the background of the Johnston family, it was obviously not a problem to find some reliable financial talents.
Simon leaned on the sofa, thinking about it in his mind.
By accepting this $1 billion in funding, the amount of funds Simon needs to control will reach $1.5 billion.
The larger the size of a hedge fund, the harder it is to achieve high profit margins, which is a disadvantage of accepting external funds.
However, although the issue of commission was not discussed, with such a sum of money added, it is naturally impossible for Simon to help take care of it for free. The fees for hedge funds are very high. The usual management fee is 2% and the income share is 20%. With Simon's current appeal, he can even increase the commission ratio further.
In any case, it is quite exciting to think about having a huge amount of funds of more than one billion US dollars to maneuver in the financial market.
As for success or failure.
To use an argument from memory, the Japanese stock market is now a hot topic. As long as you look in the right direction, pigs can fly.
What's more, Simon is not afraid of failure deep down.
Simon also doesn't think he can run a hedge fund as an outsider. There are many outsiders in this circle. In comparison, those who are truly expert work for others. As Raymond Johnston just said, leave professional things to professionals, and you only need to control the overall situation.
In terms of time arrangement, the time difference between Melbourne and Tokyo is only one hour. During this time, while filming "Batman" in Australia, Simon can keep an eye on the trends of the Japanese stock market at any time.
If Japan's stock market goes as Simon remembers, it won't peak until the end of the year and turn down.
Simon plans to relax for a while after finishing production on "Batman" and let go of the company as much as possible, at least not as busy as he is now. At that time, he can also free up more time to continue to focus on the follow-up operation of this money.
After making up his mind, Simon looked up at Raymond Johnston.
Raymond Johnston did not disturb Simon's thinking just now. When he realized that he had made a decision, the old man put down the coffee cup in his hand and looked over.
After reorganizing his thoughts, Simon said: "Lei, our own funds can be combined and operated together. But for outsiders, if they want to join in, my condition is that if the profit is within 30%, I will only charge 20%. Profit sharing is used as commission. If the profit exceeds 30%, then the commission ratio increases to 30% for the part between 30% and 100%; for the part with profit exceeding 100%, I require 50% commission. Unlike other long-term operations The hedge fund, this operation in the Japanese market is a one-time operation, maybe one year, maybe two years. As long as this matter is over, I will choose the right time to liquidate all the funds to investors."
The impression given to ordinary people by hedge funds often means huge profits.
But in fact, the goal of most hedge funds is just to outperform the market, and there are very few funds with annual interest rates exceeding 30%.
Raymond Johnston generally understood this, so he was not surprised by Simon's conditions. He even thought it was natural.
With a capital of 1.5 billion Australian dollars, let alone a profit of more than 100%, even if it can be doubled in the next one or two years, everyone will be satisfied.
In fact, the net profit of the entire Johnston Holdings Group last year was less than AU$200 million, and the annual profits of the companies behind other investors this time are probably the same.
With normal investment methods, a return of 20 to 30% in a year is already very good.
If it can really double, it will actually mean that everyone gets their company's profit for a year in vain. In this case, no one would be willing to pay a higher commission.
As for profits exceeding 100%, Raymond Johnston has no expectations. He also knows that the larger the size of a hedge fund, the harder it is to achieve high profit margins.
There are only so many opportunities in the financial market. A small fund with millions or tens of millions of dollars can double several times in a year by seizing the opportunity. Simon's operation in 1987 was probably like this. However, for large-scale hedge funds with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars, their investments must be diversified. This will inevitably lead to investment gains and losses, and it is impossible to maintain too high profit margins.
In fact, Raymond Johnston did not accept funds from outsiders without any screening.
For the expected amount of money, except for some special partners, he set the investment threshold for others at 100 million Australian dollars. Anyone who could not afford such a large amount of money or could not afford to lose would be directly excluded. His son-in-law must not be cheated. of.
Therefore, Simon put forward these conditions, and Raymond Johnston immediately nodded and agreed.
As for Simon's words about combining the Johnston family's funds with his own and not talking about commissions, Raymond Johnston did not refuse this kind offer. Both parties have already acquiesced to their respective family identities, so there is no need to be so polite.
However, it would be better if this boy could marry his daughter as soon as possible.
Worry.
After sending Simon away, Raymond Johnston called his eldest son and asked him to help Simon select some useful people. By the way, he asked the little sister who had said she was in a bad mood after the New Year and gave up her career after the New Year. She came back from Europe. No.
This is also a worry.
The beginning of the year is the busiest time for the financial department, and the company's operations have not been smooth in the past two years. As a financial officer, I will stop working if I don't want to work.
It would be nice if I could get a son-in-law back from my vacation, but I would be alone every time.
When my father passed away, I was still thinking about my little sister. How will I explain to my parents in the future if she is like this now
Feeling a little angry just thinking about it, Raymond Johnston simply found the contact information and dialed London. The call was put through over there, and after a few chats I couldn't hold back my anger. I ordered the woman over there to return to Melbourne next month, or else I would fly to London to arrest the person myself.
He also warned repeatedly, but this time he was serious.
Simon returned to the center of Melbourne, and all major securities and commodity exchanges in Asia had ended their trading for the day.
Affected by the news that Simon Westero is optimistic about the Japanese stock market, the trading volume of stock index futures contracts on the two major exchanges in Singapore and Osaka increased significantly after the opening of trading today. Even many futures types that have nothing to do with Japan were stimulated.
At the same time, the Japanese stock market was also red across the board today, with a large number of stocks reaching their daily limit. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 613 points throughout the day, accumulating 31,992 points, an increase of 1.9%. In fact, if it were not for the price limit of the Japanese stock market, the single-day increase of the market index would definitely be more than this.
The Nikkei 225 Index futures have actually been launched for less than three years, and the price is far higher than many other futures types. Usually strong institutional investors participate in the trading. However, due to the high growth of the Japanese stock market, the trading volume of Nikkei 225 Index futures has increased rapidly in recent years.
Many analysts originally predicted that the total trading volume of Nikkei 225 Index futures this year would reach 5 million lots, involving more than 100 billion US dollars. However, due to the turmoil caused by the "Wall Street Journal" article, today alone, the trading volume of Nikkei 225 Index futures on the two major exchanges in Singapore and Osaka exceeded the 60,000-lot mark.
Some people follow the trend and build positions, some go short against the trend, and some people cut their positions and flee.
Simon, who sparked the storm, did nothing. He just checked today's settlement statement immediately after the market closed.
After the last Black Monday margin crisis, major exchanges have adopted a daily debt-free settlement system. Investors no longer need to settle final profits and losses when buying and selling like buying and selling stocks.
Now, after the end of each day's trading, the exchange will calculate the profit and loss data of investors' contracts and make cash transfers.
The number of Nikkei 225 Index contracts held by Simon on the Osaka Stock Exchange has increased to 6,000. Therefore, he earned 3.678 billion yen today, equivalent to 29.9 million U.S. dollars.
With a principal of US$200 million, the profit in one day was close to 15%, but Simon was not too happy.
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 613 points in a single day, which is close to the increase in the past month. If the calculation is still based on the limit of 38,000 points in memory, the Japanese market may have reached the top before Simon's follow-up funds are in place.
It would be tragic if this situation continued.