1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:11,719 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. This is the Bloomberg 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: Daybreak Europe podcast. Good morning, It's Monday, the eleventh of August. 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: I'm Stephen Caroll in London. Coming up today, in Vidia 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: and AMD agree to pay the United States fifteen percent 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: of their China AI chip revenue to secure export licenses 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: to the country. The head of NATO says Ukrainian land 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: will have to be on the table in any peace 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: deal with Russia. Plus crumbling Dreams Germany's property collapse exposes 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: pension funds to risky private credit losses. Let's start with 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: a roundup of our top stories. Bloomberg understands that Nvidia 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: and AMD have agreed to pay fifteen percent of their 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: revenues from Chinese AI chip sales to the US government 13 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: in a deal to secure export licenses to the country. 14 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: The highly unusual arrangement reflects President Trump's effort to engineer 15 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: or financial payout for America in return for concessions on 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: trade or China. Correspondent mid Minlo has more, this is something. 17 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 2: Quite unprecedented because no US company has done this before. 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: It does give us a new precedent for the type 19 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 2: of compliance costs that companies could face as they. 20 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 3: Do business with China. 21 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 2: It also raises the question as to whether or not 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 2: the US is willing to trade off some of these 23 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 2: security concerns by rolling back even more of these export 24 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 2: controls in exchange for a cut of the revenue from 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: US companies. 26 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: Mid Menlo speaking there with less than twenty four hours 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: to go until the US China trade truce expires. The 28 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,759 Speaker 1: Trump administration has previously signaled that the agreement is likely 29 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: to be extended. In its truth Social post. Overnight, the 30 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: US President called on Beijing to quadruple its soybean orders 31 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: to reduce China's trade deficit with America. NATO's Secretary General 32 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: Marcrota says this Friday is somewhat between Donald Trump and 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin, may open the doors negotiations over Ukrainian territory. 34 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: President Zelenski has continued to reject the idea of seeding 35 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: land currently occupied by Russia. Speaking to ABC's this Week, 36 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: Russa says Kiev may have to accept that it has 37 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: lost control of some of its territory without formally relinquishing sovereignty. 38 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,239 Speaker 4: These two big issues have to be on the table. 39 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 4: One is territory, and we have to acknowledge at this 40 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 4: moment that Russia is controlling some of Ukrainian territory, and 41 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 4: the question will be how to go forward past a ceasefire, 42 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 4: including what it means in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine. 43 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: Native Chief Mark Ruta spoke to ABC's this week, as 44 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: Bloomberg learned that European leaders have been seeking to talk 45 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: to Trump ahead of his meeting with Putin. Ukraine and 46 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: its European allies have been pushing for a ceasefire that 47 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: freezes the current front line as a first step towards 48 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: negotiations on a more lasting settlement. Israel's Prime minister has 49 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: defended his widely condemned plans for a military sweep against 50 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: Hamas strongholds in Gaza. Bennaminettanie, who described the proposal as 51 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: the best available option for recovering the country's hostages and 52 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: safeguarding its security. 53 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 3: Given Hamas's refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has 54 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 3: no choice but to finish the job and complete the 55 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,399 Speaker 3: defeat of Hamas. Contrary to false claims, this is the 56 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 3: best way to end the war and the best way 57 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 3: to end it speedily. 58 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: Benyminettane, whose plans have been criticized at home and by 59 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: foreign leaders, dozens of whom have spoken out against the 60 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: humanitarian crisis in Gaza after Israel cut off aid between 61 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: March and May. Australia has become the latest country to 62 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: announce it will recognize a Palestinian state at the United 63 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: Nations General Assembly meeting in September. The news comes as 64 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: London's Metropolitan Police say five hundred and thirty two people 65 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: were arrested during a demonstration on Saturday for supporting band 66 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: group Palestine Action. Al Jazeira says five of its journalists 67 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in 68 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,119 Speaker 1: Gaza on Sunday. 69 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 5: The news organization reports the deaths of. 70 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: Two correspondents and cameramen close to Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital 71 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: in what it called a targeted assassination. The Israeli military 72 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: confirmed it had targeted Al Jazeera correspondent an Us al Sharif, 73 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: claiming on telegram that he had served as the head 74 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: of a terrorist cell and hamas. The Committee to Protect 75 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: Journalists told the BBC that Israel has so far failed 76 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: to provide evidence to back up the allegation that the 77 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 1: journalists they killed were terrorists. The UK's jobs market is 78 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: weakening as employers hold back due to fears around taxes 79 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: and an uncertain future. A poll by KPMG in the 80 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 1: Recruitment's and Employment Confederation showed starting salaries rising at the 81 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,679 Speaker 1: slowest pace in over four years. 82 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 5: Bloomberg Exchange Wilcock has more. 83 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 6: Working people are seeing fewer pay rises. The KPMG RIC 84 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 6: survey is stark. It shows a sharp slowdown in hiring, 85 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 6: low wages and pessimism about the future, and with tomorrow's 86 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 6: official UK job stated being scene is less reliable. The 87 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 6: RC release has become a closely watched indicator for the 88 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 6: Bank of England. Companies blame a wall of global uncertainty 89 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 6: for the pullback, but they point their finger at the 90 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 6: labor government too, singling out higher payroll taxes, coming tough 91 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,119 Speaker 6: employment laws and the fear of more taxes potentially headed 92 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 6: their way this autumn as key reasons for holding back. 93 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 6: In London. 94 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 5: James Wilcock Bloomberg. 95 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: Radio economists expect the European Center Bank to hold interest 96 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: rates steady until December. A Bloomberg survey says Center Bank 97 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: watchers are pushing back expectations for more rate cuts while 98 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: they wait to see the impact of the Global Trade 99 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: tariffs bill. Appears also show signs of taking a while 100 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: to determine their next move, with the Federal Reserve having 101 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: stayed on hold so far this year. At the Bank 102 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: of England, governor last week acknowledging genuine uncertainty. And those 103 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: are your top stories on the markets. The MSCI ASA 104 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: Pacific Index outside of Japan is up by four tens 105 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: of one percent this morning. Japanese markets are closed for 106 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: a holiday. Your Stocks fifty futures are up by two tens. 107 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: SMP Miani's on Wall Street are up by a tenth. 108 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: Oil prices are lower by six tens of one percent. 109 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: With Friday's meeting between Vladimir Prutin and Donald Trump and 110 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: focus the Brank cruise training at sixty six dollars twenty one, 111 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: Soybean futures have risen on that social media post from 112 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: Donald Trump calling on China to buy more. They're up 113 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: about two point three percent, and bitcoin close to a 114 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: record high one hundred and twenty two thousand dollars just 115 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: over per digital token at the moment. In a moment 116 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: we'll bring you more on that deal between chipmakers and 117 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: the US government to get export licenses to China. Plus 118 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: we'll have a story about how small pension funds in 119 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: Germany are filling the pain from the property market crash. 120 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 5: There. 121 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: But another story they've been reading this week and on 122 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: teaching your children to play poker. Apparently it's easy, or 123 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: so says Matt Levine. Anyway, if we're looking for something 124 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: to do in your family holiday this summer, perhaps you 125 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: can try it out. His essay is about teaching his 126 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: eight year old daughter and four year old twins to 127 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: play poker. Now, his strategy is you start with one card, 128 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: which induced the whole concept of betting and bluffing, and 129 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: that it doesn't matter essentially what cards your dealt, it's 130 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: what you do with them. 131 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 5: And he says that so much easier. 132 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: Concept to get across than trying to get someone to 133 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: learn off you know, whether a flush is better than 134 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: a straight flush, or so on and so forth. So 135 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: his strategy says that once your kids have mastered this, 136 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: you can then make things more complicated, make it a 137 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: two card game than a five card and so on. 138 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: He writes about it very well and I think it's 139 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,239 Speaker 1: a lovely piece also about getting his children on board 140 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: with something that he's interested in too. Do wonder if 141 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: it depends on the temperament of your children though definitely 142 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: step off in monopoly games that I was playing with 143 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: my family as a child. Anyway, But it's a great 144 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: READI You'll find it on Blueberg dot com. We'll put 145 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: a link to it in our podcast show notes as well. 146 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,679 Speaker 1: Let's turn though, back to our top story in video 147 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: and AMD agreeing to pay fifteen percent of their revenues 148 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: from Chinese AI chip sales to the US government secure 149 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: export licenses. Are Tech editor of latsavav is with me 150 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: now for more. What can you tell us then about 151 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: this agreement that I Nvidia ANDAMD were told of signed 152 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: up to. 153 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 7: Right well, I think first of all, it's worth taking 154 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 7: a step back to understand what band they were trying 155 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 7: to get over because as of April this year, these 156 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 7: chips that we're talking about, in Nvidia's case, the H 157 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 7: twenty chips that it was it had initially designed specifically 158 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 7: for China and we're shipping and selling over there. That's 159 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 7: when a Trumpe administration decided that they will be caught 160 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 7: up in its limits on shipments to China. So this 161 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 7: limitation on Nvidia and AMD shipments through the country didn't 162 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 7: exist until April. That's when the Trump administration imposed them. 163 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 7: And from our reporting, what we understand is it was 164 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 7: a straightforward as saying the Trumpet administration is saying to 165 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 7: Nvidia and AMD, if you give us fifteen percent of 166 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 7: the proceeds, you will be allowed to ship those again. 167 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: Okay, So I mean, how value while are these chips 168 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: sales to these companies that they be willing to do this. 169 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 7: Well, if you listen to Invidia CEO Jensen Huang, he's 170 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 7: made this case very strongly and very consistently that if 171 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 7: Nvidia is not present in China, that costs US interest. 172 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 7: Obviously it costs in Video's own interest, but his case 173 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 7: is more nuanced. He's saying that he can both serve 174 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 7: China's interests by providing them AI accelerators, which his company 175 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 7: is the leader in manufacturing those, but he can also 176 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 7: serve US interest by getting China attached to the US, 177 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 7: as he calls it, technology stack right, So what in 178 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,239 Speaker 7: VideA sells isn't just the GPU or the hardware, The accelerator. 179 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 7: It also sells the connective tissue. It sells the infrastructure 180 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 7: that goes into all these data centers and video even 181 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 7: likes to talk about so called AI factories, which really 182 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 7: are just data centers full of the video hardware. And 183 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 7: Jensen and Kwang's premise is if you get all of China, 184 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 7: when you're talking about the Buydance Tens and Ali Baba's 185 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 7: of the world, building their data centers around a video hardware, 186 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 7: that is geopolitically, strategically advantageous for the US because it 187 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,479 Speaker 7: means that the US has more negotiating leverage in future negotiations. 188 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 7: It means the US still has some sort of influence 189 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 7: over China. And you know, the idea is that if 190 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 7: there is no US tech allowed in there, China will 191 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 7: not just say we're not interested in AI anymore because 192 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 7: they don't have access. They'll build their own. 193 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: So what does this mean that for the tech industry 194 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: more broadly, that companies as big as Nvidian AMD would 195 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: sign up to something like this. 196 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 7: Well, again, you kind of have to rewind a little 197 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 7: bit when you look back to the end of January 198 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 7: when the TikTok ban in the US was just about 199 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 7: to happen, and then Donald Trump started a series of 200 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 7: extensions to that deadline. One of the things that he 201 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 7: made really clear is that everything is on the negotiating 202 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 7: table with his administration. Up until that point, it was 203 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 7: all built on national security grounds. It was ticked US 204 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 7: operations cannot operate here because they have access to young 205 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 7: Americans postal information, which Donald Trump literally shrugged off in 206 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 7: the White House. He said, Eh, what's the big deal, 207 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 7: It's just kids information. 208 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:15,760 Speaker 5: So he was making the point. 209 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 7: Then that TikTok could be as big as a one 210 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 7: trillion dollar business and the US should have a slice 211 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 7: of that. And really, what we're seeing now with this 212 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 7: deal with Nvidia ANDAMD is the actual manifestation of what 213 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 7: the envisions. It's we're going to strike a deal, you 214 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 7: will literally give us a cut of the sales, and 215 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 7: then you go ahead and proceed. 216 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: Okay, flat, Thanks very much for joining us with the 217 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: latest on that story. 218 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 5: That's our tech editor of Vlad Tsavov. There. 219 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: Well to Germany now, with a commercial property bubble that 220 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: burst under higher interest rates, it's continuing to cause pain 221 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: small pension funds that have helped to finance major projects 222 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: when rates were near zero are now proving to be 223 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: some of the biggest losers are distressed at Reporter Lebby 224 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,559 Speaker 1: Cherry joins us now from Frankfurst for more on this 225 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: story that she's been reporting on Libby Good Morning. First 226 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,199 Speaker 1: of all, why did these occupational pension funds invest in property? 227 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 8: So in the lead up to exactly this bubble bursting, 228 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 8: we were in a very ultra low interest rate period 229 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 8: and a lot of these occupational pension funds have required 230 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 8: annual returns, so they need to make for the pensioners 231 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 8: that pay into them. And suddenly, in this ultra low 232 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 8: interest rate period, buying the very safe government bonds, mortgage 233 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 8: debt and so on was no longer providing the returns 234 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 8: that they required. So it needs to look for slightly 235 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 8: more arcane, higher risk products that would enable. 236 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:42,559 Speaker 5: Them to meet those annual returns. 237 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,079 Speaker 8: And if you think about how this financing was structured, 238 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 8: it was designed for them. People were syndicating this debt 239 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 8: out so that even very small occupational pension funds were 240 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:55,719 Speaker 8: able to invest. 241 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 5: So remind us then what happened when that property bubble burst, 242 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 5: So the kind. 243 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 8: Of immediate repercussions was a lot of these developments, for example, 244 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 8: building office buildings in major cities. You know, residential developments 245 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 8: ground to a halt. The uncertainty was just so much, 246 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 8: and also the transaction market ground to a halt as 247 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 8: buyers and sellers suddenly couldn't agree on valuations anymore. And 248 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 8: all of the stem from the very rapid increase in 249 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,319 Speaker 8: interest rates from the European Central Bank, which put immediate 250 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 8: pressure on valuations and also increased financing costs. And at 251 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 8: the same time you also had Russia's invasion of Ukraine 252 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 8: and the consequent increase in raw materials and so. 253 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 5: On, all of which led to a lot of these. 254 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 8: Developments running out of money and basically idling, with people 255 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,079 Speaker 8: unwilling to invest more into these projects. 256 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: So how much pain then, have these pension funds suffered 257 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,680 Speaker 1: as a result of this? And do we know the 258 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:00,599 Speaker 1: full extent of it? Are there further losses still expectors? 259 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 8: So a lot of these cases are very idiosyncratic. But 260 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 8: where we have been able to understand what's happened in 261 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 8: these frastructurings. If there are pension funds invested in this 262 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 8: so called mezzanine or subordinated financing, a lot of them 263 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 8: are facing the risk of losing potentially their entire investment. 264 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 8: A lot of the valuations of the developments were based 265 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 8: on very optimistic views of where they'd be able to 266 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 8: sell the property at the end of you know, when 267 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 8: they finished developing it, and suddenly that value is just 268 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 8: completely lost. And in terms of, you know, where we 269 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 8: might go from here, people in the market say that 270 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 8: there are definitely more losses to come. A lot of 271 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 8: these developments are still being restructured, still being negotiated, are 272 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 8: in very long drawn out insolvency processes, and we might 273 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 8: not see the kind of final extent of the losses, 274 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 8: you know, maybe for another year or so. 275 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: In the restructurings that have already happened, though, what's been 276 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: the outcome for these pension funds. 277 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 8: So one case that we look at in particular is 278 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 8: the first project, which is a very large development in Berlin. 279 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 8: They actually came to London to restructure their debt and 280 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 8: what happened was the valuation of the property was so 281 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 8: much lower that it had been initially envisaged when they 282 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 8: started building, that the entirety of the debt that was 283 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 8: sort of more junior to the most sort of the 284 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 8: more junior debt that subordinated the mezzanine financing was completely 285 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 8: wiped out to save for a small compensation payment, and 286 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 8: that would have been very painful for those funds. We've 287 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 8: also seen in a development in Frankfurt where there are 288 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 8: two pension funds that are invested in the mezzanine financing 289 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 8: and they two were facing sort of total write downs 290 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 8: on their investment. But as I say, you know, a 291 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 8: lot of these negotiations are private, a lot of the 292 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 8: solutions are very unique to the property, so it's hard 293 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 8: to sort of generalize. 294 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 4: I would say. 295 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, your morning brief on the 296 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond. 297 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 9: Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple, Spotify, 298 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 9: and anywhere else you get your podcasts. 299 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: You can also listen live each morning on London DAB Radio, 300 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com. 301 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 9: Our flagship New York station is also available on your 302 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 9: Amazon Alexa devices. 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