JUST as funding leveraged buyouts by high-risk junk bonds were a favourite vehicle for US investors seeking a quick return in the 1980s so the 1990s is throwing up its own genre of investment themes.
Emerging markets were the big idea of 1993 for US investors in particular, and now it seems direct investment in those countries' infrastructure needs is the go for 1994.
New funds are mushrooming, with the likes of successful 80s investor George Soros joining the game in recent weeks.
Next in line with a fund of US$800 million is the giant US financial adviser and fund manager, American International Group (AIG), which is establishing its very own vehicle to be named the Asian Infrastructure Fund.
With so many being set up at the same time, there is a rush for an original name; Peregrine launched an infrastructure fund with the very same name last week.
Imagine you have a war chest full of cash and are off to the power-hungry hinterlands of China and ready to do deals. Easy, right? The Chinese authorities are crying out for foreign participation to increase their generative capacity.
That's what Goldman Sachs and China Venturetech figured late last year when they arranged a private placement for a number of big ticket international investors to establish a joint venture with the Shandong Power Bureau.