From Janes.com: European defence industries must be wary of accepting “an attractive source of capital” from sovereign wealth funds during the current global financial crisis, Michel Barnier, Europe’s Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services, has warned.
Mr Barnier told Jane’s on 29 November that there is a need to be wary of influences that could undermine the integrity and security of EU member states’ defence markets, adding that investing in defence companies is “not merely a financial issue”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: National Pensions Reserve Fund, born April 2001, died November 28th, 2010; survived by a sister, Nama. Irish Times wrote today an obituary for Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund NPRF, which was originally set up at the start of the last decade to plug future pension shortfalls.
But it never lived to fill this purpose. The 25-billion euro NPRF, which boasts its membership to the world’s elite SWF club, has died a sudden death although it has been suffering a capital haemorrhage last year, when the government amended the rule and used 7 billion euros to recapitalise its battered banks……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Citywire.co.uk: France has reportedly passed a law to use the assets in its €36 billion national reserve pension fund to pay off welfare system debts, as Ireland tapped its own reserve pension fund to supplement an EU-IMF bailout.
The assets of the French pension fund, the Fonds de réserve pour les retraites, have been moved into the agency in charge of refinancing the country’s social debt, Cades, Financial News reported……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Pionline.com: Norway’s Government Pension Fund-Global, Oslo, should better use its size, lack of liabilities and long investment horizon to its advantage, according to a report by the fund’s new independent Strategy Council.
The 3 trillion kroner ($494 billion) fund should diversify its equity portfolio to take advantage of value and liquidity risk premiums, sell insurance (both to financial markets, in the form of protection against financial catastrophes, and to traditional policyholders for natural catastrophe and other types of insurance), and bolster its contrarian investing based on valuation ratios, according to the report……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Dow Jones: Greylock Capital said a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund has invested about $45 million in its flagship fund, the Greylock Global Opportunity (Offshore) Fund.
The Greylock fund is a fixed-income fund that focuses on emerging market corporate and sovereign assets. Greylock declined to disclose the name of the sovereign wealth fund……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From WSJ: Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. Tuesday announced it’s putting $100 million into Verno Capital’s Russia-focused hedge funds, in what officials said was the first major direct commitment by a Persian Gulf sovereign-wealth fund into Russia.
“It sends a very big signal that a Gulf sovereign wealth fund is investing,” Omar Ghobash, UAE Ambassador to Moscow, said in an interview. “They are very conservative.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Bloomberg: Mubadala Development Co. will make a $100 million investment with Russian hedge fund Verno Capital, the first by the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government in Russia.
The country’s “recent economic performance and the future potential for the broader region make it an exciting new market for Mubadala,” Chief Executive Officer Khaldoon al-Mubarak said in an e-mailed statement today……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Cyprus-mail.com: Cyrus finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis said the Qatar Investment Authority had expressed a “keen interest” in additional possible investment projects in Cyprus with the participation of investors from the public and private sectors.
Earlier this year, the two countries signed a multi-million euro deal to develop a hotel, residential and commercial complex in central Nicosia opposite the Hilton hotel.However the deal stalled after disagreement arose over the value of the property, with Cyprus’ appraisal being significantly than that of Qatari Diar, the state-owned real estate company that is to bankroll the project……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Emirates247.com: UNCTAD’s figures covered only FDI as they did not include capital channeled by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), with assets of between $300-900 billion.
The report showed FDI flow out of the UAE climbed to a record high of around $15.8 billion in 2008 from $14.5 billion in 2007 before plunging to nearly $2.7 billion in 2009 apparently because of the crisis and lower oil prices……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Reuters: An investor group led by U.S. buyout firm JC Flowers is in talks to buy a stake in Brazil’s privately held Banco BTG Pactual SA. The investor group includes sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) , the agency said.
The group is looking to buy about 15 percent of the Brazilian firm for about $1.5 billion and an announcement may come as early as this week, people told the agency……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From China Knowledge: GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, the largest polysilicon producer in China, and China Investment Corp, the nation’s US$300-billion sovereign wealth fund, have decided to terminate a joint venture agreement on solar farm projects, sources reported.
GCL-Poly Energy said in a statement that the move has no negative influence on its stable and close partnership with CIC. As a long-term financial investor, CIC dose not want to be involved in specific operations and management of the JV, according to the statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Koreaherald.com: Korea Investment Corp., the nation’s $37 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to make three to four strategic investments next year with other state funds to diversify from traditional assets such as bonds and equities.
The Seoul-based fund, known as KIC, posted a 7 percent to 8 percent return this year from stocks and bonds traded in public markets, which make up the bulk of the portfolio, Chief Investment Officer Scott Kalb said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

From Businessspectator.com.au: Future Fund chairman David Murray has joined the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Glenn Stevens in urging the federal government to preserve revenue from the mining boom for future generations.
“My biggest driver is that we exist for our children and not for ourselves,”Murray said. “If you look at all this stuff going on you wouldn’t believe we even have any children.”………………………………………Full Article: Source

From Swfinstitute.org: A number of sovereign wealth funds are lowering allocation from bonds to more risky, illiquid assets, such as direct investment in companies. Their position sizes have increased and they are now providing more capital for public and private companies across various industries.
SWFs have made generous profits from investing in direct investment / PIPE investments in numerous industries such as natural resources, materials, real estate, financial institutions, and energy……………………………………….Full Article: Source