| Twenty-eight percent of companies globally say they plan to increase their focus on sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) this year, according to the latest research from IR Magazine. The number looking to boost SWF targeting is at least 11 percentage points higher than those looking to increase their focus on ESG/SRI portfolios (17 percent), private banking portfolios (17 percent), family offices (15 percent) or hedge funds (12 percent). Just 2 percent of IROs state an intention to decrease SWF shareholder targeting, compared with a high of 11 percent for hedge funds.
Asian IROs are more likely than counterparts elsewhere to increase their focus on SWFs: 39 percent say they plan to increase targeting of these funds, compared with 27 percent in Europe and 21 percent in North America. At the cap size level, 23 percent of IR professionals at both small and mid-cap companies say they plan to increase their focus on SWFs, climbing to 34 percent and 35 percent at large and mega-cap companies, respectively....................................Full Article: Source |