Temasek Holdings Pte said Chia Song Hwee replaces Tan Chong Lee as head of the investment unit as the Singapore state-owned asset manager reshuffles senior management positions.
Effective today, Chia becomes head of the investment group in a change of title, while Tan, who was chief investment officer, assumes the role of head of portfolio and strategy group as well as head of portfolio management and head of strategy, according to changes on Temasek’s website…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Francis Rozario, who spearheaded Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd’s investment in Asian banks, has set up his own advisory firm to serve financial institutions. Rozario told Reuters he had co-founded Singapore-based Asia Capital and Advisors Pte Ltd with Leslie Menkes, who headed Morgan Stanley’s onshore private banking business in Asia.
A former Citigroup executive, Rozario left Temasek’s Fullerton Financial Holdings unit in the middle of 2011 after working at the state investor for about eight years…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Premier Alison Redford’s promise — to start saving — seemed out of place in a speech punctuated with warnings of a $6-billion “bitumen bubble,” tough decisions and belt-tightening ahead for Alberta. “We have a plan to once again begin investing a portion of our resource revenue in the Heritage Fund, the first time that will have happened in over 25 years,” Redford declared.
The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, established in 1976 by premier Peter Lougheed as a nest egg for the province’s resource riches, sits today at about $16 billion. Since the early 1980s, the government has added relatively little to the fund, except for inflation proofing. Instead, it has been tapped to the tune of about $33 billion to help pay for various programs and building projects…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The tension between Central Banks that we noted continues to worsen. This time it was China and the EU, not just Germany, that fired warning shots at the US Fed. A senior Chinese official said on Friday that the United States should cut back on printing money to stimulate its economy if the world is to have confidence in the dollar.
Asked whether he was worried about the dollar, the chairman of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation, Jin Liqun, told the World Economic Forum in Davos: “I am a little bit worried.” “There will be no winners in currency wars. But it is important for a central bank that the money goes to the right place,” Li said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Francis Rozario, who spearheaded Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd’s investment in Asian banks, has set up his own advisory firm to serve financial institutions. Rozario told Reuters he had co-founded Singapore-based Asia Capital and Advisors Pte Ltd with Leslie Menkes, who headed Morgan Stanley’s onshore private banking business in Asia.
A former Citigroup executive, Rozario left Temasek’s Fullerton Financial Holdings unit in the middle of 2011 after working at the state investor for about eight years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mahmood H. Al-Kooheji, CEO of Bahrain’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Mumtalakat, talks about the need for SWFs to be open in their investment process as well what investments interest his own fund.……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has appointed Gregory Eckersley as global head of internal equities, effective immediately. Eckersley will be responsible, alongside senior management, for developing and implementing investment strategy for the internal equities department, as well as overseeing the activities of all internally-managed portfolios.
His role will also include oversight of risk management and due diligence processes. Based in Abu Dhabi, Eckersley will report to Mohamed Darwish Al Khoori. Eckersley joins ADIA with 16 years experience at AllianceBernstein. From 2006 until his departure in 2011, he was responsible for managing AllianceBernstein’s global and large cap growth equity portfolios based in New York………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has hired former AllianceBernstein global equity manager Gregory Eckersley to run its equities division. The British manager has been appointed the $627 billion sovereign wealth fund’s global head of internal equities and will be in charge of the team that invests directly into global stocks.
He joins the SWF from hedge fund 1770 Capital Partners, a firm he co-founded in 2011 alongside two colleagues following his departure from AllianceBernstein where he had worked for 16 years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

With job cuts being rolled out across the financial sector, many professionals are eyeing opportunities at large sovereign wealth funds, which are recruiting heavily, particularly in the Middle East. In my experience, however, it would be like signing up to the civil service.
In my eyes you would be mad to take a role at one of the large SWFs in the region – they are huge, unwieldy behemoths, where the decision-making process is arduous and wealth continues to expand regardless of their investment strategies………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s sovereign wealth fund hopes to reduce its reliance on purchases of U.S. Treasurys and boost investments in other assets as the U.S. economic recovery makes U.S. government debt less attractive, the Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday, citing the fund’s head.
The report cited China Investment Corp. Chairman Lou Jiwei as telling a conference in Hong Kong that the fund would like to add more stocks to its portfolio. He didn’t provide a definite time frame for any investment shift, merely saying that over the long run the attractiveness of U.S. debt would diminish………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Daimler AG is not aware of China Investment Corp’s (CIC) plans to take a stake in the company and is not in talks with CIC, Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche told reporters at the Detroit auto show on Monday.
Zetsche also said Daimler was in talks with China’s BAIC Group about its role in an initial public offering of BAIC’s passenger car unit………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Morgan Stanley’s top mergers and acquisitions banker in Southeast Asia Jonathan Popper will join Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings to lead its M&A team, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Popper’s departure could affect the long-running battle for Fraser & Neave Ltd as he was involved in advising the Thai group that is keen to take over the Singapore property and soft drinks conglomerate………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government of Singapore Investment Corp. has appointed Lim Chow Kiat to succeed Ng Kok Song as Group Chief Investment Officer effective 1 February 2013. Lim is currently Ng’s deputy.
Lim, in a statement, said that Ng has been a great influence in developing the professional investment capability of GIC. “As GCIO, my focus will be to build on that capability and ensure that the GIC investment process remains robust………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund will soon have a new chief investment officer, effective February 1, 2013. Lim Chow Kiat will succeed Ng Kok Song as the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation’s (GIC) Group Chief Investment Officer (GCIO).
Lim, 42, is currently the Deputy GCIO, after having joined the firm in 1993. Ng, 64, will be retiring after 42 years in the management of Singapore’s foreign reserves, a release by the GIC said. He started his career as an investment analyst in the Ministry of Finance in 1970. He moved to the Monetary Authority of Singapore when it was formed in 1971 and took over the function of managing Singapore’s reserves. In 1986, five years after GIC was formed, he joined GIC as the first non-expatriate director, and headed the equities and bond department………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has announced that Lim Chow-Kiat is being promoted to group chief investment officer, effective from February 1. Previously group deputy CIO, he succeeds Ng Kok-Song, who retires after 42 years in management of the city-state’s foreign reserves. Ng will become an adviser to GIC in the role of chair of global investments.
In a published letter, GIC chairman and prime minister Lee Hsien Loong took the opportunity to thank Ng for his long service, which predates the establishment of GIC in 1981………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) said on Friday that Lim Chow Kiat will be its next group chief investment officer from Feb 1, succeeding Ng Kok Song who is retiring.
Lim, 42, is currently GIC’s deputy group chief investment officer. He joined the Singapore sovereign wealth fund in 1993 after graduating with first class honours in accountancy from Nanyang Technological University. Lim was appointed head of GIC’s Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Department in 2008………………………………………..Full Article: Source

LeapFrog Investments, a US-based private equity (PE) firm, is betting big on the Indian insurance sector. LeapFrog, which has made two deals in India so far, appointed Michael Fernandes, former India head of Khazanah Nasional, as partner (Southeast Asia), in December 2012.
At Khazanah Nasional, the sovereign wealth fund of the Malaysian government, Fernandes was responsible for over $700 million of direct investments in India, including Yes Bank and L&T Finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) supervisory agency Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has received 300 applications for the post of Chief Investment Officer for the authority.
In a statement, the Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Paul Nwabuikwu, quoted the Managing Director of the NSIA, Uche Orji, as confirming this. According to Orji, the NSIA hopes to have the interviews early next year and have a CIO in place by early March………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Shahmar Movsumov, the Executive Director of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) met with USA delegation headed by Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Susan Combs on December 13, 2012.
Mr. Movsumov briefed the guests on the Fund’s activity, management of its assets, Sovereign Wealth Funds, major projects financed by the Fund. He talked about SOFAZ’s leading role in implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Despite of the ongoing litigation between the federal and state governments over the Excess Crude, the state governors are asking for the release of $1 billion from the account, to enable them to meet their contractual obligations in their various states.
Rising from a meeting in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday, under the National Economic Council (NEC) presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, they resolved to seek the intervention of the Attorney-General of the Federation on the best way to achieve it without subverting the court process………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Olam International Ltd. (OLAM), the commodity trader that Muddy Waters LLC said may fail, isn’t another Enron Corp., according to a former senior managing director at Temasek Holdings Pte.
“I completely reject” the Enron comparison made by Muddy Waters, Michael Dee, who worked at Temasek from 2008 to 2010, said.Olam is “a company that saw a tremendous business opportunity, to take an existing platform and grow it on the back of relatively inexpensive debt. And perhaps executed that a little bit too fast and too far.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Gao Xiqing, President, China Investment Corporation on Monday appreciated the unanimity he registered among business community, investors, bankers and government functionaries in Pakistan about the needs of their country and the modes to meet the same.
Talking to the delegations of FPCCI and Pakistan China Business Council, he said since there was absolute understanding viz a viz priorities of their country it was easy for his team to make its recommendations about possible investments in identified sectors. “CIC that had for quite some focussed on low risk investments is now contemplating to modify its approach,” said Gao Xiqing………………………………………..Full Article: Source

America’s indebtedness and repeated monetary easing is a matter of grave concern but gold offers a glimmer of hope in these times, according to China Investment Corp (CIC) president Gao Xiqing.
Gao, who runs China’s US$482 billion sovereign wealth fund, said he is “not quite convinced” about the US economic system, which he said makes the government print money to satisfy the needs of certain interest groups………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Under the aegis of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, a ceremony was held here on Wednesday to celebrate the Kuwait Investment Office’s (KIO) Diamond Jubilee.
HH the Amir was warmly welcomed to the ceremony site by Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al Hajraf, Minister of Finance, Acting Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, confirmed yesterday that the global head of its infrastructure investments group had left the fund for personal reasons.
Chris Koski joined ADIA in 2007 from the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board to set up its infrastructure team, and became the go-to person for bankers and funds pitching infrastructure-related investments to the Abu Dhabi fund, sources familiar with the matter said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The combination of the four major government funds does not necessarily have to be called a “sovereign fund,” said Chang Sheng-ford, Minister of Finance. Chang made the remarks during a hearing at the Legislative Yuan, following criticism for his earlier remarks that the ministry is not ruling out combining the four funds to form Taiwan’s “sovereign fund,” which would be used to invest in a variety of products abroad.
The four funds — the labor pension fund, the labor insurance fund, the civil servants pension fund and the postal fund — are all made up of taxpayers’ money and exist for the purpose of supporting laborers and civil servants after they retire………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will visit the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar next week to discuss investment opportunities inside Greece, a Greek embassy spokesman in Doha said on Tuesday.
Other investment areas to be discussed include real estate projects such as the Hellenikon project, a 620-hectare development near central Athens, Europe’s largest real estate project. Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is participating in the tender process of the project. Qatar Holding recently invested 1.2 billion euros in a gold mining operation in northern Greece………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Dubai’s ruler has trimmed the board of Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate’s investment arm, cutting it down to five members from six, state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum will continue as the chairman and Dubai crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum, will remain vice-chairman, WAM said citing a decree by the ruler……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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If you’re an expat private equity professional looking for a position in the Middle East, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) continue to offer a breadth of new roles. However, as new blood is brought in, an increasing number of the old guard are being forced out.
The recruitment spree by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in private equity is well-known – earlier this year, it announced plans to recruit 45 private equity professionals and last month brought in Colm Lanigan has head of principal investments. However, headhunters tell us that a large number of other Gulf sovereign entities are also hiring for private equity including the Qatar Investment Authority, the Emirates Investment Authority, and the Investment Corporation of Dubai……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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The chairman of China’s $482bn (£303bn) sovereign wealth fund has warned that the eurozone’s current strategy to tackle the debt crisis is “leading us up a blind alley”.
Jin Liqun, chairman of the supervisory board of the China Investment Corporation, outlined risks that China’s economy faces, including the festering crisis in the eurozone. The current strategy is leading us up a blind alley,” Jin said of efforts so far by European policymakers to solve the crisis………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A top official with China’s sovereign wealth fund has issued a blunt warning that the latest unrest across the eurozone shows austerity has stretched the public’s tolerance “to breaking point”.
Jin Liqun, chair of the supervisory board of the $480bn (£300bn) China Investment Corporation (CIC), warned that undue harshness risked a backlash which could end with necessary economic reforms being abandoned………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The chairmen of China’s sovereign wealth fund, largest energy company, fourth-biggest bank and top airplane maker were given higher positions in a ruling Communist Party undergoing a once-a-decade leadership change.
China Investment Corp.’s Lou Jiwei, 61, served in the People’s Liberation Army, was deputy governor of the southwestern province of Guizhou and was a deputy finance minister before joining CIC, which oversees about $482 billion in assets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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The fund manager spun out of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund is launching an African equities fund together with Moroccan bank Attijariwafa, seeking to take advantage of Africa’s “economic emergence”. Abu Dhabi-based Invest AD has signed a memorandum of understanding with Attijariwafa that will see the two launch an equity fund and help each other source new business.
The firms will jointly seed the African equities fund, which will be co-managed by Invest AD and Attijariwafa’s fund management unit, Wafa Gestion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Hong Kong-based private equity firm Fountainvest Partners, headed by ex-Temasek executive Frank Tang, has raised $1.35 billion for its second fund focused on Greater China, sources familiar with the matter said, defying increasingly tight fundraising conditions.
Founded in 2007 by four former Temasek executives from the Singapore state investor’s China team, Fountainvest raised a debut fund of $950 million in 2008………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company has added a second board member to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the troubled US chip maker in which it owns an almost 20 percent stake.
In a statement, Mubadala said it nominated Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi to the California-based semiconductor firm’s board of directors. “The appointment of Ahmed to the AMD board is consistent with Mubadala’s long-standing commitment to the company and a reflection of the importance of the semiconductor industry to the Mubadala portfolio,” AMD said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Media mogul Peter Chernin has raised about $100 million from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund to pursue investments across the media sector, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Chernin Group, which Mr. Chernin founded in 2010, has previously raised money from private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners. Mr. Chernin now has raised more than $200 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, the top shareholder in Italian bank UniCredit, has lost its chief financial officer and another top executive, sources familiar with the matter said.
The move signals the state-owned firm, which recently divested its stake in German carmaker Daimler, may be scaling back an investment spree which has seen it take stakes in high-profile global companies since its inception in 2005………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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U.S. oilfield services company FTS International (FTSI) has replaced Marc Rowland as chief executive after 18 months, bringing in Greg Lanham, an executive at top shareholder Temasek, in a change that is effective immediately.
Rowland, who previously had been chief financial officer of 30 percent FTSI shareholder Chesapeake Energy Corp, was elevated to CEO of FTSI from the CFO position in May 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

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Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, Tuesday hinted that the 36 states governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had commenced discussions with the Federal Government on the need to make use of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and excess crude fund to increase the revenue allocations for the states in order to meet the current challenges facing them.
He also said the state was not insolvent because his administration has been able to meet all its financial obligations since he took over the mantle of leadership. Ahmed, who dropped the hint in Ilorin while speaking with journalists on his monthly programme tagged: ‘Governor’s Explains’, said among such present challenges being faced by states are floods, economy and insecurity………………………………………..Full Article: Source

David Cameron will seek to persuade the sovereign wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates to invest in the UK on the second day of his Gulf trip. The Prime Minister is aiming to strengthen the UK’s defence, security and commercial ties in the region.
Cameron has promised not to shy away from the issue of human rights during the visit. But he is likely to have a difficult meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government of Singapore Investment Corp on Thursday named Mr Hsieh Fu Hua and two new members to its board as it announced the retirement of Richard Hu, the Bloomberg news agency reported.
Hsieh, who was previously CEO of the Singapore Exchange and will be replacing Wee Cho Yaw as chairman of United Overseas Bank next year, joined the GIC board on Thursday, the fund said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The head of Australia’s Future Fund says he works from a private office to save money for the fund. David Gonski appeared before Finance and Public Administration Senate committee on Monday for the first time since the government appointed him chairman of the board of guardians for the sovereign wealth fund - created to meet the cost of public sector pensions.
Liberal senator Mathias Cormann asked Mr Gonski whether it was appropriate for him to work from an office in the Sydney branch of South African-owned investment bank Investec instead of a separate office in the city………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The leadership of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) established to manage the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) faces a Herculean task given the controversy surrounding the establishment of the fund.
The eight member board to be led by former director of First Bank Plc, Mahey Rasheed, as the Chairman, with Uche Orji, a former Managing Director of JP Morgan, as the Chief Executive Officer was unveiled recently by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Other board members are Jide Zeitlin, Bili Awosika, Arnold Akpe, Hassan Usman, Bisi Soyebo and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The leadership of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) established to manage the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) faces a Herculean task given the controversy surrounding the establishment of the fund.
The eight member board to be led by former director of First Bank Plc, Mahey Rasheed, as the Chairman, with Uche Orji, a former Managing Director of JP Morgan, as the Chief Executive Officer was unveiled recently by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Other board members are Jide Zeitlin, Bili Awosika, Arnold Akpe, Hassan Usman, Bisi Soyebo and Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Ministry of Finance announced Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz’s bill for a sovereign wealth fund for the government’s take on natural gas profits has been approved by the ministerial legislative committee.
The bill’s approval follows the recommendations of the Sheshinski Committee and the committee set up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Steinitz, and Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer to review the management of the state’s revenues from Israel’s natural resources. National Economics Committee chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel chaired the committee. Its members included the Ministry of Finance’s budget director and accountant general, the deputy attorney general, and Fischer………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, has become the latest country on the continent to launch a sovereign wealth fund. Angola will be joining an elite club of resource-rich nations including Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Unveiled this week in the capital Luanda, the fundo soberano de Angola (FSDEA) has pledged to adhere to international standards of transparency, including the generally accepted principles and practices, or “Santiago principles”, defined by the international working group of sovereign wealth funds………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Economist and former federal Liberal leader John Hewson has criticised the Future Fund – Australia’s largest – for the way it manages, or fails to manage, the risks of climate change to its $75 billion portfolio. Hewson chairs the Asset Owners Disclosure Project, an organisation encouraging funds to recognise the long-term risks of climate change – both in policy terms and its physical events.
The AODP says a Freedom of Information search conducted two years ago found that climate change had not been mentioned in any of the board meetings of the Future Fund, and it was still refusing to provide stakeholders with clarity about its strategies to protect its portfolio because of “resource constraints”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tom LaMacchia left his role as a partner at US law firm White & Case in Japan earlier this month to join Qatar’s $115 billion sovereign wealth fund, which plans to invest $30 billion this year.
He has already started in his new post in Doha at Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which did not respond to AsianInvestor requests for comment on the hire. A source says LaMacchia’s role will involve advising on fund investments and M&A work. The latter is likely to take up most of his time, but he will probably also advise on tailoring funds to meet QIA’s requirements………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver put down a suggestion Canada save the money it makes from its vast resource wealth Thursday. If Ottawa were to redirect royalties and taxes from regular revenue towards a sovereign wealth fund — common practice in many resource economies — it wouldn’t go to more critical social programs today, said Oliver.
“If we aren’t receiving those hundreds of billions of dollars, we would not be able to afford the same level of health care and same level of education and other programs,” he said. “This is a crucial issue and to the extent that money is diverted from those programs, it’s not available for those programs.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday appealed to states governors and local government chairmen to cooperate with the Federal Government in the implementation of policies aimed at preserving the nation’s commonwealth.
Jonathan made the appeal on the occasion of the inauguration of the Board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) at the State House, Abuja.The authority is statutorily charged with the responsibilities of managing the Sovereign Wealth Fund and administering the accruing resources for the benefit of present and future generations of Nigerians………………………………………..Full Article: Source