| Aggregate total assets for sovereign wealth funds reach $3.22 trillion as newly established funds keep the sector growing in 2009. Released today, Preqins newest report, the 2009 Preqin Sovereign Wealth Fund Review reveals that the aggregate total assets for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) has continued to climb over the past year.
SWFs have not escaped the effects of the global downturn, and some have seen their total assets fall considerably as a result of the drop in value of their investments. However, as the past twelve months have seen a number of new entities emerging, the collective might of sovereign wealth funds has not diminished as a result of the economic slowdown.
The aggregate assets under management for sovereign wealth funds is currently standing at $3.22 trillion, which although is not as big a growth as we have seen in previous years, still represents a 6% increase from one year ago when the figure stood at $3.05 trillion, and represents a 59% increase from the 2007 figure of $2.02 trillion. This growth is primarily due to the reclassification of Chinas $312bn SAFE Investment Company as a SWF following its purchase of a number of public and private equity interests in 2008. Khazakstan has also incepted a new fund - the $29bn Samruk Kazyna National Welfare Fund over the course of 2008, while Korea is one of the existing funds that has boosted the assets of its SWF over the past year. These funds have counteracted the effects of declining total assets of some SWFs that have suffered as a result of poor investment returns in the wake of the global economic downturn.
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