What a difference a year makes

At the end of 2007, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) purchased $7.5 billion of securities in Citigroup (NYSE:C). What, precisely, the sovereign wealth fund purchased has been variously described as “preferred shares” or “convertible bonds,” i.e., bond-like instruments that convert to equity at some pre-arranged point in time. At any rate, no matter the precise type of security it purchased, ADIA could today buy up the entire common stock equity of Citi for less than it paid for a small slice just over a year ago. As Citi stock hovers around the dollar mark today, its market capitalization is about $6 billion. Yikes.