Sovereign wealth funds are likely to enjoy returns of 5-7 percent this year as they boost investments in high-yielding assets such as infrastructure, property and emerging markets while keeping some in safe government debt, JP Morgan Asset Management says.
Patrick Thomson, global head of sovereigns at the asset manager, told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that volatility and the lack of liquidity in emerging markets remain a concern for the giant $4 trillion industry which invests windfall revenues for future generations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

If you’re a banker reading this, then booking a flight to Europe could be a good idea. Assets in Europe are on the list of investments liked by advisers to Australia’s Future Fund, the country’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund with 73.1 billion Australian dollars (US$78.5 billion) under management, according to its chairman David Murray.
“Quite clearly they see significant changes in Europe that will throw up good assets for the private sector and institutional investors,” Murray told Deal Journal Australia in an interview this week. “That’s probably a good thing because the assets will get funded and the new owners will build some productivity into them.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Kazakh President signed a law on the National Welfare Fund, aimed at improving the fund’s legal structure organisations within its group, the presidential press service said.
The new law aims at improving the order of interaction, determining the powers of the government and the fund, increasing the effectiveness in strategic planning and monitoring key indices of the fund’s activity and its subsidiaries, as well as procurement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said Beijing will support Europe’s efforts to stabilize the euro, calling the European debt crisis an ‘urgent’ matter. Chancellor Merkel met with Wen at the start of a three-day tour.
Merkel also met with Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, and Lou Jiwei, head of the $400-billion (303.6 -billion-euro) China Investment Corporation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Wermuth Asset Management has raised €110 million ($144 million) into a fund to invest in clean-tech companies targeting the Russian Federation, with a focus on Tatarstan.
The majority of the funding comes from the sovereign wealth fund of Tatarstan, which Polina Burnos, a principal at Wiesbaden, Germany-based Wermuth Asset Management, describes as “one of Russia’s most advanced regions”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp (CIC) has acquired a minority stake in Washington-based EIG Global Energy Partners, EIG said in a statement. Asset manager EIG did not disclose the size or value of the stake taken by China’s $410 billion sovereign wealth fund.
EIG invests only in energy, resources and related infrastructure, and had $9.5 billion in assets under management as of November last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The global market volatility and challenging macroeconomic outlook has also helped shape some of the themes.
ome companies have been forced to enhance focus by exiting from non-core businesses, while others have taken advantage of opportunities. Well-capitalised, best-in-class corporates have looked outward to seek inorganic growth and diversification; and there has been continued sovereign wealth fund portfolio activity by Temasek, GIC and Khazanah, in the context of a volatile and challenging global economy………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Singapore were the buyers of HDFC Bank shares in October-December, when the stock fell almost 9%, according to shareholding data on BSE.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority bought 4.53 crore shares, or 1.98%, and the Government of Singapore purchased 2.81 crore shares, or 1.2% of HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private lender………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Not so long ago sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) were viewed with a good deal of mistrust. Today, while not without challenges, they are considered potential saviors for a rattled global economy. What changed?
Better communication between fund managers, the investor community, and governments. Many funds have embraced the Santiago principles — the code of best practices developed by the IMF and the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds that address legal issues and transparency, which has led to greater comfort on the part of countries in which SWFs have investments………………………………………..Full Article: Source