China Investment Corp, the nation's US$200-billion sovereign wealth fund, will pick money managers for its overseas equity investments by the end of the month, people involved in the selection process said.

Two to three companies will be chosen for each of the four mandated product areas, according to one person who declined to be named because the plan hasn't been made public. CIC hasn't decided if it will disclose a final list, said a press officer at the Beijing-based company, according to Bloomberg News.

China is seeking to diversify its US$1.5 trillion in currency reserves to obtain higher returns than United States Treasury bonds. The Beijing-based fund will recruit asset-management companies to oversee equity investments benchmarked against indexes for the world, developing countries, emerging markets and Asia excluding Japan.

Companies must have at least US$5 billion or the equivalent of assets under management to receive a license. CIC is also recruiting fixed-income managers for two debt mandates.

(Shanghai Daily February 21, 2008)