Sovereign Wealth Funds

The book covers a wide range of topics of relevance to policymakers in countries that have sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and those that receive SWF investments. Renowned experts in the field have contributed chapters. The book is organized around four themes: (1) the role and macrofinancial linkages of SWFs, (2) institutional factors, (3) investment approaches and financial markets, and (4) the postcrisis outlook. The book also discusses the challenges facing sovereign wealth funds in the coming years, from an inside perspective on countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Norway, Russia, and New Zealand. Economics of Sovereign Wealth Funds will contribute to a further understanding of the nature, strategies and behavior of SWFs and the environment in which they operate, as their importance is likely to grow in the coming years.

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are state-owned investment funds with combined asset holdings that are fast approaching four trillion dollars. Recently emerging as a major force in global financial markets, SWFs have other distinctive features besides their state-owned status: they are mainly located in developing countries and are intimately tied to energy and commodities exports, and they carry virtually no liabilities and have little redemption risk, which allows them to take a longer-term investment outlook than most other institutional investors. Edited by a Nobel laureate, a respected academic at the Columbia Business School, and a longtime international banker and asset manager, this volume examines the specificities of SWFs in greater detail and discusses the implications of their growing presence for the world economy. Based on essays delivered in 2011 at a major conference on SWFs held at Columbia University, this volume discusses the objectives and performance of SWFs, as well as their benchmarks and governance. What are the opportunities for SWFs as long-term investments? How do they fulfill their socially responsible mission? And what role can SWFs play in fostering sustainable development and greater global financial stability? These are some of the crucial questions addressed in this one-of-a-kind volume.

The worldwide rise of sovereign wealth funds is emblematic of the ongoing transformation of nation-state economic prospects. Sovereign Wealth Funds maps the global footprints of these financial institutions, examining their governance and investment management, and issues of domestic and international legitimacy. Through a variety of case studies--from the China Investment Corporation to the funds of several Gulf states--the authors show that the forces propelling the adoption and development of sovereign wealth funds vary by country. The authors also show that many of these investment institutions have identifiable commonalities of form and function that match the core institutions of Western financial markets. The authors suggest that the international legitimacy of sovereign wealth funds is based on the degree to which their design and governance match Western expectations about investment management. Undercutting commonplace assumptions about the emerging world of the twenty-first century, the authors demonstrate that even small countries with large and globally oriented sovereign wealth funds are likely to play a significant role in international relations. Sovereign Wealth Funds considers how such financial organizations have altered not only the face of finance, but also the international geopolitical landscape.

Sovereign wealth funds are a growing and dynamic force in international finance. This is the first book to compile a history of sovereign wealth funds, recounting the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's involvement with the scandal-plagued BCCI bank and Chinese arms exports to Iran. In a straightforward and accessible style, the author examines the complex and amazing growth of an unknown group of investors controlling trillions of dollars worldwide.

In this comprehensive look at Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)--state investment vehicles based on balance of payment surpluses--the authors explain how SWFs impact the world and the balance of economic power.

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have reached a transitional moment. Created as a way to direct excess wealth toward economic development and long-term financial returns, some countries are now seeing a decline in revenue from sources such as oil. Many SWFs are now facing a new challenge—how to spend sustainably without depleting the funds. Sovereign Wealth Funds in Resource Economies explains the fiscal rules and institutional structures that can make SWFs thrive, providing a practical and theoretical guide to their optimal use in resource-revenue management. Khalid Alsweilem and Malan Rietveld put forward an institutional perspective of SWFs as quasi-independent political and economic entities charged with managing national resource wealth, examining both investment and disbursement strategies. They advance a systematic, rule-based approach, suggesting when to accumulate and when to begin countercyclical spending based on concrete case studies. More than a mere financial portfolio, SWFs must be embedded in a credible fiscal and institutional framework if they are to contribute to improved economic performance. Alsweilem and Rietveld consider the variety of relationships that exist between SWFs and their governments, exploring the legal and policy side of the institutional approach. Their rule-based description of SWFs, since it allows tailoring and adjustment and invokes rules of thumb and best practices, is intended to be widely applicable across the diverse spectrum of global SWFs. Bringing together the practitioner perspective and scholarly expertise, this book will be invaluable for global policy makers and scholars working with sovereign wealth funds.

Sovereign wealth funds are a growing and dynamic force in international finance. The shifting international economic relations from capital rich states gives them new power in influencing the global agenda. Despite controlling trillions of dollars in the biggest companies in the world, little is known about the opaque funds of oil rich and non-democratic governments. This is the first book to compile a history of sovereign wealth funds recounting the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's involvement with the scandal-plagued BCCI bank and Chinese arms exports to Iran. By constructing a history within the proper context of oil driven surpluses and large inflationary pressures with no international investment framework, this book explains the development and growth of sovereign wealth funds. The economics of capital surplus countries and investment strategies are examined in order to better understand sovereign wealth fund creation and growth. In a straightforward and accessible style, the author examines the complex and amazing growth of an unknown group of investors controlling trillions of dollars worldwide.

This study examines the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the global economy and financial system. Sovereign wealth funds are not a new phenomenon in international finance. Governments of a few countries have used similar entities to manage their international financial assets for several decades. Moreover, countries have always held international reserves, and government-owned entities have made cross-border investments for many years. Sovereign wealth funds or their equivalent pose profound issues for the countries that own them with respect to macroeconomic policy and the potential for corruption. They also raise issues for countries that receive SWF investments as well as for the international financial system as a whole because government ownership introduces potential political and economic power issues into the management of these cross-border assets. This study traces the origins of SWFs. It describes the issues raised by these large governmental holdings of cross-border assets for the countries that own them, for the host countries, and for the international financial system. The study lays out what is known about the 50-plus SWFs of various countries. Some countries have more than one such entity, and a sample of government-managed pension funds is included in this analysis because they raise most of the same basic policy issues. Using publicly available information that is provided on a systematic basis, the author has previously developed a "scoreboard" for these funds involving a number of elements grouped in four categories: structure, governance, transparency and accountability, and behavioral rules. The 2008 edition contributed to the development of a set of generally accepted principles and practices, the Santiago Principles, for SWFs by the International Working Group operating under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund. This publication presents an updated scoreboard for an expanded list of funds, evaluates the Santiago Principles, and examines current compliance with those principles. The study also examines the policies of recipient countries and the role of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) investment codes. Finally, the study discusses the evolving role of SWFs in the context of the global economic and financial crisis and its aftermath and will make recommendations for the policies of countries both managing such funds and those that expect to receive investments from them in the future.