Rick Snyder to Chinese investors: 'You're over-weighted in your portfolio'

Posted on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 9 a.m.

Rick Snyder to Chinese investors: 'You're over-weighted in your portfolio'

By Nathan Bomey

Gov. Rick Snyder, a former Ann Arbor venture capitalist, told Chinese investors during a trip to Asia in September that they should consider diversifying their investments, according to a transcript of an interview yesterday with the Detroit Free Press.

Snyder said he offered a critique of the Chinese business executives' strategies.

Gov. Rick Snyder speaks to a reporter during his trip to Asia in September.

Photo courtesy of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. via Facebook

"I met with some of the people that manage trillion dollar portfolios of successful Chinese companies and they said, 'Why should we do something in Michigan?'" Snyder recounted. "They expected, I think, the traditional political answer. My response was, 'Basically you’re a portfolio manager, you have an over-weighted portfolio and done fabulous so congratulations. But you’re over-weighted in your portfolio in this sector and you need to diversify your portfolio."

It's not clear whom Snyder was referring to. He met with a number of high-level politicians and business executives during the trip. In Japan, he met with executives such as Katsuaki Watanabe, vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corp..

Snyder added: "You can go put (investments) in Treasuries or other financial instruments and get no return or you can make a great investment in a value place to be in the world which is Detroit, Michigan. So come invest in real assets here because you’ve got all the upside.”

Read the full transcript of Snyder's interview with the Free Press here.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.

Comments

Carole

Fri, Dec 9, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.

I say American invest in America -- let's bring it on home. I am thrilled at ABC news has provided "Made in America" segments several times and it is proving to make a different when folks "buy America" --

trespass

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 8:33 p.m.

Rick Snyder has a lot of his personal investments in China yet he tells the Chinese to invest in Detroit. The old adage is do as I do not as I say. Rick Snyder's venture capital company owns a company called NeoPhotonics which primarily manufactures in China. He also owns Discera which is investing in selling its technology in China. One of the uses for Discera's technology is in guidance systems for "smart" weapons. Read more at <a href="http://www.china-threat.com/snyder-connection.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.china-threat.com/snyder-connection.html</a>

TheGerman

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 3:51 p.m.

"It's not clear whom Snyder was referring to. He met with a number of high-level Chinese politicians and business executives during the trip, including Katsuaki Watanabe, vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corp." Watanabe is definitely Japanese, might want to update that one a bit.

Nathan Bomey

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 5 p.m.

Yes, absolutely, you're right! I fixed that. Meant to say that he met with a number of executives and political figures during the entire trip, including Watanabe.

godsbreath64

Thu, Dec 8, 2011 : 2:29 p.m.

When does Richard Dale Snyder acknowledge the criticism he warrants? Charging the economically challenged two thousand dollars to entice his cross global oligarchs over. Sorry. The Chinese would be well advised to stay away from Michigan until the constitutional crisis of the Snyd' administration has been brought under constitutional control once again.