Continuing our assessment of Qatar’s economic diversification in Gulf Times, the creation by the Qatari government of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, in 2005 is a reflection of Qatar’s strategic view of how to shape its economic future as well as its capacity to operate in the global financial markets.
With assets estimated to be around $300bn, QIA’s prime objective is to achieve revenue diversification and to minimise risk from Qatar’s reliance on energy prices. Through the QIA, its subsidiary Qatari Diar, and other funds such as Qatar Foundation Endowment and Qatar Sports Investment, investing once massive surpluses of oil and gas revenues in a manner that supports the long-term prospects of the economy of Qatar has been a priority for the government………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GIC has hired a big data expert as it expands computer-driven investments through a quantitative group started earlier this year. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund appointed Mr Michael Recce in the newly created role of chief data scientist last month to work in the GIC Data and Analytics Department, according to a spokesman.
Mr Recce, a former associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is focusing on collecting publicly available data and analysing them for patterns………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Following the demonetisation exercise and clampdown on counterfeit notes and black money, ‘Invest India’ — the government’s investment promotion & facilitation agency — has been flooded with queries from foreign pension funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) regarding locations and sectors to invest in the country.
Encouraged by this trend, ‘Invest India’ has decided to set up a dedicated team of experts by mid-December this year to cater to the needs of SWFs (which are state-owned investment entities) and foreign public and private pension funds, to attract mega investments into India, Invest India’s Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Deepak Bagla told The Hindu………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Azerbaijan’s state oil fund SOFAZ, which accumulates and manages oil and gas revenues of the resource-rich country, is projected to get some $100 billion from the sale of oil and gas in the next 15-20 years.
SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov, addressing a banking conference in Baku on November 24, said that regardless a significant drop in oil prices, the country continues production and export of oil, therefore it will further receive oil revenues. He noted that the Fund has so far received some $120 billion of oil revenues………………………………….Full Article: Source

Rising political risk exemplified by such events as the election of Donald Trump and the U.K. vote to leave the European Union will be boon to managers that make active choices when managing their bond and stock portfolio, said the incoming chief executive officer of Norway’s Skagen Funds.
“The time has come again to think active management,” Oyvind Schanke, who’s currently one of three chief investment officers at Norway’s $850 billion sovereign wealth fund, said in a phone interview from Stavanger. “We’re getting to a crossroads here, with more and more opportunities. The more money that goes into passive management, the bigger opportunities for very active funds like Skagen.”……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kirill Dmitriev hails likely business opportunities. The head of a leading Russian sovereign wealth fund has hailed Donald Trump’s election victory as a new opportunity for Moscow to do business with the US.
“We believe having a businessman in the White House who makes pragmatic decisions is very important,” Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, told the Financial Times in an interview. “We believe what is great about president-elect Trump is that he is open-minded about Russia.”……………………………………Full Article: Source

Optimistic on enhanced strategic relationship between Qatar and China, Doha Bank has said the recently held ‘Made in China’ exhibition will offer an opportunity for Doha to tap into the Asian country’s technological advancements. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund received permission in 2012 to invest in China’s capital markets. Qatar Investment Authority holds shareholding in Agriculture bank of China.
China’s foreign exchange regulator awarded Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) fresh quota of $700mn for direct investment in the Chinese securities market, on top of the $300mn already granted earlier. KIA has stake in agriculture bank of China. KIA was also granted a $1bn licence by China’s central bank in 2012 to invest in its domestic interbank bond market……………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway should limit what it spends from its $860 billion wealth fund to avoid creating economic imbalances, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, after the fund grew faster than the economy in the last 20 years.
Under the fiscal spending rule, governments can spend in their budgets an average 4 percent of the wealth fund per year - the estimated long-term return of the fund. The sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, invests the Norwegian state’s revenues from offshore oil and gas production It invests up to 60 percent in equities, 35 percent in fixed income and 5 percent in real estate. It cannot invest in Norway……………………………………Full Article: Source

Israeli banks, criticized for years as wasteful by their regulator, are attracting interest from the world’s top investors after announcing thousands of job cuts to boost efficiency.
Norges Bank, which manages Norway’s $860 billion sovereign wealth fund, said last month it raised its stake in Israel Discount Bank by half. U.S. money managers Dimensional Fund Advisors, BlackRock Inc., and Vanguard Group Inc. also increased their holdings in the country’s lenders in recent months…………………………………….Full Article: Source

South Korea will sharply lower the minimum amount to be entrusted to the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) to about $86 million and allow the sovereign wealth fund to diversify into a broader range of alternative assets, opening the doors of the state fund wider to small-sized public funds.
Under the revision of the enforcement decree of the KIC Act which was approved at the cabinet meeting on Nov. 15, the government will also loosen conditions for an early redemption call to the KIC and allow the sovereign wealth fund to tap a deeper pool of asset managers to pick its chief investment officer and steering committee members…………………………………….Full Article: Source

China Life and China Investment Corporation are among the latest mainland financial companies set to open offices in London, even as concerns over Brexit remain, according to Mark Boleat, chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee for the City of London.
“There will be more Chinese financial firms opening offices in London. The major mainland banks have expanded in London in recent years and they have sent more senior executives to London,” Boleat said in an interview with the South China Morning Post at Guildhall office in London………………………………….Full Article: Source

Deputy general manager Qi Bin says it will be focusing on targets closely tied to Chinese economic development. China Investment Corporation (CIC), the sovereign wealth fund, is stepping up its overseas investment, focusing on targets closely tied to the country’s economic development.
Qi Bin, CIC’s deputy general manager, revealed the move, while speaking at the private equity firm Hony Capital’s annual general meeting in Shenzhen on Monday. “This will be the future trend for CIC. Any investment must be closely tied to Chinese industry and serve in its economic transition ,” he said…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mohamed Alabbar’s dream of creating a Middle East rival to Amazon may turn out to be a mirage. The Dubai real estate mogul has teamed up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to lead a $1 billion investment in a new online retailer called Noon.com. There are merits to backing e-commerce in a region where most shopping still takes place in giant malls.
To justify its unicorn status, however, the venture will have to achieve scale by expanding further afield - a feat few of the region’s start-ups have achieved. Securing the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) should at least make larger global rivals take Noon.com seriously……………………………………Full Article: Source

A number of messages were telegraphed to media from asset owners globally following the conclusion of the U.S. presidential election. In the run up to the election, sovereign wealth funds, such as GIC Private Limited, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), continued investing in a wide range of assets from infrastructure to office properties in core cities.
By analyzing the after effects of the Brexit vote, SWFI research believes wealth funds will continue to invest in the United States, but may alter what sectors or asset classes they choose to invest into………………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s $869-billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, will not change its U.S. investment strategy following the election of Donald Trump as president, the head of Norway’s central bank, which manages the fund, told Reuters on Wednesday.
“No, we don’t make that sort of connection. The oil fund is a long-term investor. Our perspective goes beyond eight years and we don’t have any particular view on how the outcome of the presidential election impacts the economy,” Governor Oeystein Olsen said in an interview………………………………………Full Article: Source

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Wednesday he believed Donald Trump’s presidential victory would reduce geopolitical confrontations. “A less confrontational U.S. foreign policy will unlock major opportunities for joint (Russia-U.S.) trade and investment,” Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in a statement.
Dmitriev said he believed financial markets would recover quickly “just as they did after the Brexit vote.”……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Wednesday that market volatility is expected to persist in the near term until there is more clarity about the policy stance of the new U.S. Administration.
The U.S. residential election suggests that Donald Trump is on course for a win, triggering significant volatility in financial markets, Norman Chan, the chief executive of the HKMA said in an email response to media. Shortly after Chan’s email, Democrat Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede a stunning upset win for Trump, U.S. TV networks reported………………………………………Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund has agreed to pay €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) for a portfolio of European warehouses, a sector that is thriving as investors bet on internet shopping.
GIC Pte. will buy P3 Logistic Parks, which owns and manages 163 warehouses in nine countries, from private-equity firm TPG Capital and Ivanhoé Cambridge, the property arm of Quebec’s state pension fund, the firms said in a joint statement on Monday………………………………………Full Article: Source

China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, will set up a research institute to promote international trade and investment. Starting on Saturday, CIC will hold four recruitment sessions for overseas Chinese talent in Chicago, New York, Boston and San Francisco.
Qi Bin, the CIC’s executive vice president, will be hosting these sessions, talking about the challenges and opportunities China is facing, and what role the CIC research institute is going to play in facilitating the country’s growing overseas investments………………………………………Full Article: Source

Australia’s Future Fund is moving away from riskier assets, in a sign that major institutional investors are becoming more conservative. Australia’s sovereign wealth fund declared on Monday that it made a 1.5% gain in the quarter through September, bringing total assets to A$124.7 billion ($95 billion).
“Like all investors across major global economies, we are facing a low-return environment,” said the fund’s chairman, Peter Costello, previously the treasurer of the Liberal Party. He said the fund is performing “well,” but is taking a “disciplined and prudent approach” to new investment…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan’s reorganised sovereign wealth fund is spearheading the privatisation of the country’s major assets. Stefanie Linhardt finds out how the fund is planning to make privatisation pay for the Kazakh economy. Has privatisation become an old story? Not in Kazakhstan, where the process of selling off has started but a large share of assets resides in state hands.
In most cases, the country’s recently reorganised sovereign wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, is running the sales. Samruk Kazyna, which has shifted from being an operationally involved fund to being a strategic investor, has embarked on wide-ranging privatisation of Kazakh businesses…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan’s reorganised sovereign wealth fund is spearheading the privatisation of the country’s major assets. Stefanie Linhardt finds out how the fund is planning to make privatisation pay for the Kazakh economy.
Has privatisation become an old story? Not in Kazakhstan, where the process of selling off has started but a large share of assets resides in state hands. In most cases, the country’s recently reorganised sovereign wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, is running the sales. Samruk Kazyna, which has shifted from being an operationally involved fund to being a strategic investor, has embarked on wide-ranging privatisation of Kazakh businesses……………………………………Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, better known as Sofaz, is looking to take on more risk, according to Deputy CEO Israfil Mammadov. The fund aims to soon lift its cap on investment in stocks, including private equity, from 15% to 25%, Mammadov recently told The Nikkei Veritas.
Sofaz had $33.7 billion in assets under management at the end of June, of which bonds and short-term financial instruments made up roughly 80%. The fund acquired Kirarito Ginza, a shopping mall in Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza district, from Japanese leasing giant Orix last year for 52.3 billion yen ($496 million at current rates). Sofaz has also invested in funds involved in Japanese real-estate development, including logistics facilities and properties in outlying cities, Mammadov said……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) aims to soon lift its cap on investment in stocks, including private equity, from 15 percent to 25 percent, SOFAZ Deputy CEO Israfil Mammadov said in an interview with The Nikkei Veritas.
SOFAZ had $33.7 billion in assets under management at the end of June, of which bonds and short-term financial instruments made up roughly 80 percent. He added that SOFAZ plans to increase the share of its portfolio devoted to real estate to 10 percent from the current 5.5 percent……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, is looking to finally privatise many of its assets, after a series of false starts. The current privatisation push entails the transition of assets currently belonging to [the country’s sovereign wealth fund] Samruk-Kazyna towards a more competitive environment.
The 44 largest companies in our portfolio will be largely privatised through initial public offerings [IPOs], in both the local and foreign markets. The percentage of capital on sale will vary case by case. It could be about 20% to 25%; although for assets where foreign investors are already part of the ownership structure, as is the case with [flagship air carrier] Air Astana, we will be looking to become minority shareholders…………………………………..Full Article: Source

With the launch of Hong Kong’s Cybersecurity Fortification Initiative (CFI), financial services insiders believe cybersecurity should no longer be viewed as a barrier that must be hurdled along the road to digitalization.
Raymond Tsui, risk manager, Sia Partners“I think Fintech and cybersecurity are not necessarily on opposite sides, because with the growing awareness, cyber protection is part of fulfilling customer needs,” said Raymond Tsui (photo right), risk manager at global management consulting firm Sia Partners…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo has released a statement that the Buhari administration intends to spend $25 billion on an infrastructure fund to invest in the transport and energy sector as a way to develop the country’s failing road, rail and power structures to boost economic growth.
Although, the Vice President did not state the timeline guiding the fund, he said the fund would be set up with contributions from local and international sources including Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund and domestic pension funds. The NSIA was actually set up for the purpose of managing and investing funds on behalf of the Nigerian government. He further stated that other sovereign wealth funds have already indicated an interest in the fund…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Azerbaijan’s state oil fund SOFAZ, which is engaged in accumulation and management of oil and gas revenues of the country, revealed the structure of its investment portfolio. Some 69.8 percent of the total investment portfolio was placed in financial instruments with the term of up to 5 years in January-September 2016.
The total volume of the portfolio amounted to $3.95 billion, which makes some 94.8 percent of the total volume of assets. About 36.1 percent of the portfolio was placed with the term of up to one year, while some 19.2 percent with the term ranging from one to three years, 14.5 percent from three to five years and some 9.5 percent with the term exceeding the period of five years…………………………………..Full Article: Source

The five million people of Norway are currently sitting on a great pile of cash thanks to their sovereign wealth fund, in charge of investing abroad the income generated by the country’s oil and gas sales. Although “publicly-owned,” the fund is an institutional financial investor driven both by a long-term perspective and ethical concerns. Yet, current circumstances are breaking the existing political consensus about the fund.
In 2016, the Norwegian government breached for the first time the budgetary rule which states that the government can’t withdraw more than 4% of the fund’s value to its budget………………………………………Full Article: Source

Temasek-linked companies seem to have access to unlimited tax dollars. In June last year, TLC Surbana Jurong (SJ) acquired KTP Consultants and Sinosun Architects & Engineers. Surbana Jurong intends to continue acquiring companies to morph into a global player and money will not be an issue. CEO Wong Heang Fine confirmed this when he said “..there’s no limit to the amount that we are willing to spend as long as it fits our growth strategies.”
It is strange for Temasek-linked companies to be acquiring companies as if there’s no tomorrow because ample warnings – inflated asset prices and weaker returns – have been sounded. Even by its sister company, GIC………………………………………Full Article: Source

The turnstiles are left open on Oslo’s impeccable network of subways and trams. Perhaps it is because Norwegians can be trusted to pay the high fares, or perhaps because the city is rich enough anyway.
The oil fund is exemplary in many ways: by taking the wealth largely out of the hands of the government and directing it into overseas investment, Norway has avoided the worst of Dutch disease. But it adds to the sense of the country having a cushion against change: the fund’s very existence extends its deadline to reshape the economy……………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s Global Government Pension Fund, the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world by assets under management, could be about to start taking a lot more risks if it follows the advice of a government-commissioned report into the way it allocates its assets.
The new report, released on Tuesday, argues that the £716 billion ($880 billion) fund should increase its holdings of shares, and move around £71 billion ($87 billion) of its assets into riskier equity holdings……………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund should raise its share of equities investments to 70 percent from 60 percent, the majority on a government-appointed commission will say on Tuesday, daily Dagens Naeringsliv reported, citing unnamed sources.
The head of the commission will dissent with the opinion of the majority on the commission and say that the fund should cut its investments in equities to 50 percent, the newspaper reported…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The new technology investment vehicle being set up jointly by SoftBank Group and a Saudi sovereign wealth fund will let the Japanese telecom giant aggressively pursue megadeals while reducing its debt exposure, the group’s chief said.
“We will make priority investments through this fund in amounts at or above a certain level,” SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son told The Nikkei in a recent interview. He intends for the vehicle to be worth around $100 billion. SoftBank will contribute at least $25 billion over five years while the Saudi Public Investment Fund will pitch in $45 billion. The rest will come from other investment funds…………………………………..Full Article: Source

With volatility plaguing global commodity markets, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have turned to India to park their funds. The value of Indian stocks held by these investors is up 32 per cent in the first eight months of 2016, at INR 2.31 lakh crore. In 2015, too, SWFs were net buyers of Indian equity, with the value of their holding rising 14 per cent.
Some of the world’s largest funds, such as Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), hold a chunk of listed Indian stocks……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway is now planning to withdraw NOK 121 bln (close to $15 bln) from its sovereign wealth fund in order to cover its loss of oil revenue. The idea that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund could put cryptocurrency in its portfolio now sounds wild, but in reality it could happen soon.
The country is the biggest oil exporter in western Europe and with crude oil prices down, it has hurt the Norwegian economy and if oil prices do not rise. The fund itself is approximately $890 bln. The fund keeps the money in the Norges Bank. By third quarter 2016, the government already withdrew a total of NOK 54 bln. It looks like the trends is continuing despite negative effects……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to attract foreign investment. Instead, it has spurred criminal and regulatory investigations around the world that have cast an unflattering spotlight on financial deal-making, election spending and political patronage under Prime Minister Najib Razak.
A Malaysian parliamentary committee identified at least $4.2 billion in irregular transactions. Singapore on Oct. 11 announced it will revoke the local license for a second bank for breaches of anti-money laundering rules in relation to its 1MDB probe………………………………………Full Article: Source

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has reduced the portion of the fund invested in New Zealand to 14.79 percent of its value from 21.3 percent in 2009 despite a ministerial directive to eventually increase the allocation to 40 percent.
The sovereign wealth fund’s annual report shows its exposure to New Zealand is 12.6 percent as at June 30, 2016, compared to 13.5 percent in 2015 and 13.8 percent the prior year. The figure rises to 14.79 percent when based on a proportional calculation of the value of its investments in the financial statements and including holdings in rural and forest land……………………………………..Full Article: Source

An Australian port and a stake in the Empire State Building’s operator were among assets acquired by sovereign investors such as wealth funds and state pension funds in the third quarter of 2016, with deals totalling $21.2 billion.
Although some oil-backed sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been hit by a plunge in oil prices since June 2014, prompting withdrawals from cash-strapped governments to cover funding gaps, others, especially Asian SWFs, remain well-funded…………………………………….Full Article: Source

A protracted power struggle over Libya’s $67 billion sovereign wealth fund risks becoming even more complicated as rival claimants for its chairmanship challenge a bid for control by a U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) has been under U.N. sanctions since the toppling of veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Security Council has extended the sanctions until July 2017, with diplomats saying they want to see a stable government in Libya before relaxing them…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Cashed-up Canadian pension funds have been very active in Australia of late, with a strong focus on agriculture, and so has Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. It’s no coincidence that these resource-rich countries have been extending their global investment reach as both of them have a strategy of building up foreign currency assets, which in turn acts as a natural hedge against falling mineral prices.
And as commodity prices have cooled, both Norway and Canada have become richer. That’s right: the massive foreign currency investments of both countries mean that the downturn in mineral prices increases the value of their overseas investments when converted back into local currency……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Khazanah Nasional Bhd sees a continuation of a pro-growth and pro-society focus in the upcoming Budget 2017. Managing Director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said the budget would also like to be fiscally responsible on the back of a challenging global economic environment.
He added that the country needs to keep the growth engine going to support its development. “The global conditions are quite challenging, but I think Malaysia has many strengths, with geography being one. “I think we can build on that and we look forward to playing our part,” he said. …………………………………….Full Article: Source

Future Fund chairman Peter Costello has warned that the $125 billion fund might have sated its appetite for infrastructure assets by the time the Queensland government accepts reality and reverses its anti-privatisation position.
Speaking after the Future Fund-led Lonsdale consortium paid an eye-popping $9.7bn on Monday for a 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne, Costello noted the irony of the Queensland government-owned QIC’s participation in the well-timed privatisation of the nation’s leading container port…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore’s stock market is witnessing an interesting trend. A number of high-profile companies have either delisted, or announced their intention to do so. However, no other company’s proposed privatisation has generated as much interest as that of SMRT.
First, it is hard to find another publicly listed company that affects the lives of millions of Singaporeans on a daily basis. Second, the fact that Temasek Holdings is proposing to fully acquire SMRT adds another dimension to the interest level…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The country created a government-run pension fund in the 70s and began investing profits abroad in 1990. Today, according to The Economist, “No sovereign-wealth fund is bigger. It owns more than 2% of all listed shares in Europe and over 1% globally. Its largest holdings are in Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Nestlé, among 9,000-odd firms in 78 countries.”
With the decline in oil prices, however, making solid investments becomes more crucial. And even with the canniest managers, the fund may not be the envy of the world forever. It may be impossible for democracies to sustain a rich wealth fund, the Economist points out. Too many people have a say in where they funds are invested and many of them put ideology over high returns………………………………………Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan’s $65 billion sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna has sold 34 small and mid-sized companies by public auction as part of its privatisation drive, a managing director of the fund said on Wednesday.
Baljeet Grewal declined to say who had bought the companies, or how much has been raised in the first phase of an ambitious five-year plan which will culminate in public offerings of stakes in some of the country’s biggest companies. The oil-rich Central Asian nation was hit hard by the collapse in world oil prices from a high of $115 in June 2014 to a trough of $27 in January 2016…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth funds have become the first institutional investors to commit capital to a new direct equity venture by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development targeting emerging markets.
China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan have committed a combined €350 million in the first round of fundraising for the Equity Participation Fund, according to a September 19 statement……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Norway’s government is withdrawing funds from the nation’s $890 billion sovereign wealth fund as it faces lower prices on crude oil and low-to-negative interest rates. Bloomberg’s Jonas Bergman examines how this may hamper the fund’s ability to manage more risk. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Management of the frozen $67 billion fund has been the subject of a power struggle between competing governments. Rival chairmen of Libya’s $67 billion sovereign-wealth fund say they want to settle their differences and unify its management, seeking to end a feud that began during the country’s civil war.
The Libyan Investment Authority, or LIA, is suing New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Paris-based Société Générale SA for billions of dollars in the High Court in London over failed investments. The chairmen said in interviews with The Wall Street Journal that they want to combine their efforts to cut legal costs and simplify operations………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth funds were once referred to as white knights when it came to them bailing out a number of global investment banks such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS during the financial calamity of 2007. To this day, wealth funds continue to amass tremendous financial firepower in the trillions, despite headwinds such as the oil glut, heightened geopolitical tensions, slowdown of global consumer demand and the possible rise of new protectionism.
In 2014, sovereign wealth funds directly invested US$ 33.4 billion into the financial sector, according to data from SWFI’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Transaction Database. In 2015, the sovereign fund transaction figure toward financials dramatically fell to just US$ 18.76 billion. There has been a clear shift in what sovereign wealth funds want and are willing to invest millions into………………………………………..Full Article: Source