Opalesque Sovereign Wealth Funds Briefing

Gulf wealth funds raising private equity investments: Study

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:20:48 +0200

Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf Arab region are raising their allocations to private equity investments at a faster rate than other types of investment, US fund manager Invesco says in a new study. "Contrary to popular perceptions these vast state funds are not piling into global property and global infrastructure projects," Nick Tolchard, head of Invesco Middle East said. "As...
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Nigeria sovereign wealth fund to start investing in June

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:20:34 +0200

Nigeria�s $1 billion sovereign wealth fund will start investing in June, as its board has approved the investment policy statements for the three funds it includes, Chief Executive Officer Uche Orji said. The SWF, inaugurated in October, was set up to invest savings made from the difference between budgeted oil prices and actual market prices. Africa�s biggest oil producer relies on crude export...
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Nigeria sovereign wealth authority unfolds initial $525 mln investment

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:19:56 +0200

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) on Monday said it would open its investment portfolio with the injection of $525million for the take-off of projects under the Stabilization Fund and the Future Generation Fund early next month. NSIA is a savings fund established by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Establishment) Act 2011 and financed by the Federal Government to build ...
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SA scraps sovereign wealth fund plans

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:19:12 +0200

South Africa has shelved plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund - which will manage the country's foreign reserves - due to declining metal prices. "The creation of a sovereign wealth fund is best timed with stable or rising commodity prices," Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said in a written reply to a parliamentary question published on his ministry's website on Monday......
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No sovereign wealth fund for SA

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:18:59 +0200

The government has quietly dropped plans to establish a South African sovereign wealth fund originally mooted to help manage the country�s foreign reserves and to stabilise the value of the rand. Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, in reply to Freedom Front Plus MP Corné Mulder, said the creation of such a fund �is best timed with stable or rising commodity prices. In light of ma...
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Qatar still showing interest in Versace

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:18:34 +0200

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is still looking at making an offer to buy into Italian fashion house Gianni Versace SpA, an Italian business daily reports, citing anonymous financial sources. Qatar Holding LLC of the Qatar Investment Authority would make an offer alongside Italy's own state investment fund, Fondo Strategico Italiano, or Fsi, daily Il Sole 24 Ore says in a report published over the...
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Qatar buys into Milan skyscraper project

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:17:42 +0200

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has bought a 40-percent stake in a new 290,000-square metre skyscraper project near the centre of Milan with a commercial value of 2.0 billion euros ($2.6 billion), the companies said on Friday. The project has already involved the construction of the skyscraper headquarters of Italy's biggest bank UniCredit by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli. "Porta Nuova is o...
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GIC cautious about seeking higher returns as yields remain low

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:17:22 +0200

Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which manages more than $100 bilion of assets, said it�s more �cautious� about seeking higher returns on its assets as yields remain low. The average annual return on bond yields will be about 1.9 percent over the next decade, while equities may offer a 1.6 percent median real return a year during that period, said Lim Chow Kiat, chief investment officer...
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Just Dial raises $38M from anchor investors including Temasek, half of the IPO subscribed on day 1

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:16:13 +0200

Just Dial Ltd, which runs the India-specific local business listings site Justdial.com, has raised Rs 208.66 crore or approximately $38 million from anchor investors, including Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek and asset management major Fidelity. The Mumbai-based firm, which opened its IPO on Monday, said in a filing to exchanges that it sold 3.94 million shares to 15 anchor investors at ...
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Wealth fund head to become chairman of

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:15:42 +0200

Jin Liqun, chairman of the supervisory board of China Investment Corp - the country's sovereign wealth fund - will step down on Friday to assume the position of chairman of China International Capital Corp on Monday, Jin told China Daily on Thursday. He is expected to succeed 64-year-old Li Jiange, who has been CICC's chairman since 2008. Analysts said that Jin's decision to join CICC, the coun...
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SOFAZ says still interested in real estate abroad

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:13:54 +0200

The state oil fund SOFAZ -- an entity that accumulates and manages Azerbaijan's oil and gas revenues -- has announced that it is still interested in property acquisitions in prime business districts of major cities around the world. The company said that under short-term plans it plans to purchase commercial real estate in Asia. "SOFAZ has its own strategy on the purchase of real estate and ...
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Real estate overtakes commodities as top sovereign fund asset

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:22:47 +0200

Real estate topped the list of sovereign wealth funds� investments last year, overtaking commodities and financial services, according to Institutional Investor�s Sovereign Wealth Center. Properties made up 26 percent of investments by these funds last year, up from 14 percent in 2011, according to the center�s report on investment trends by the funds released today. That�s followed by financial ...
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Norwegian sovereign wealth fund investing $4bln in India

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:22:24 +0200

Norway�s sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global, is investing $4 billion (Dh14.7 billion) in India and is focused in the areas of oil and gas, shipping and hydropower, Norway�s envoy to India has said. Norwegian Ambassador Eivind S. Homme said the Government Pension Fund has a capital of $720 billion and is into petroleum. �The Pension Fund is actually a petroleum fund. It is inves...
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What Norway did with its oil and we didn�t

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:22:05 +0200

In 1990, the precursor of the Government Pension Fund � Global (GPFG), a sovereign wealth fund, was established for surplus oil revenues. Today the GPFG is worth more than $700-billion. While there�s no question that Norway has done well from its oil and gas, unlike many resource-based nations, Norway has invested its petro dollars in such a way as to create and sustain other industries where it...
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Qatar buys 40pct stake in Milan�s Porta Nuova business district

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:21:52 +0200

Qatar Holding LLC, a unit of the Persian Gulf emirate�s sovereign-wealth fund, agreed to buy a 40 percent stake in Milan�s newly built Porta Nuova business district to expand its Italian real estate holdings. Qatar Holding signed a strategic partnership with Hines Italia SGR, the project�s developer, and agreed to purchase the stake through a subscription of newly issued shares, the companies sa...
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ADIA appoints new infrastructure division head

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:21:36 +0200

One of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority announced the appointment of John McCarthy as global division head of infrastructure. In a statement, ADIA said that McCarthy would be joining the sovereign wealth fund from Deutsche Bank where he was managing director for the bank's infrastructure, a position he held since 2005. In his new role, he would be ove...
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Nigeria: Three tiers of govt share N722bln in April, as excess crude account rises to N5.27bln

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:21:09 +0200

Nigeria�s Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) on Wednesday night shared N721.51 billion among the three tiers of government for April while N89.74 billion was added into the Excess Crude Account. The April allocation decreased by N9.628 billion or 1.3 per cent against the N731.133 billion shared in March. A breakdown of the distributions showed that N531.332 billion was shared from s...
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Trinidad & Tobago among top 10 in resource governance

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:20:54 +0200

According to Revenue Watch�s Resource Governance Index, Trinidad and Tobago ranks 10th out of the 58 countries surveyed, scoring relatively high for publishing timely, regular reports on oil and gas production, prices and exports as well as sound Heritage and Stabilisation Fund governance. The index report also credits Trinidad and Tobago for the quality and frequency of oversight and auditing ...
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Australia�s Future Fund investment wizardry

Thu, 16 May 2013 03:25:02 +0200

Founded just seven years ago, Australia�s Future Fund has quickly become one of the world�s most innovative sovereign wealth funds. Led by CIO David Neal and a team of more than 40 investment experts, the Future Fund�s total-portfolio approach to managing money resembles that of a multistrategy hedge fund or a sophisticated endowment. Determined to make full use of the freedom he'd been given, Ne...
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Watchdog raises fears over wealth funds

Thu, 16 May 2013 03:24:38 +0200

Sovereign wealth funds from resource-rich countries controlling more than $500bn of assets operate with no disclosure, limiting their accountability and increasing the risk of corruption, a leading transparency watchdog has said. The Revenue Watch Institute, a New York-based group backed by charitable foundations and rich-country governments, published research on Wednesday showing that eight la...
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