Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin Thursday joined international calls for tighter monetary policy settings globally, warning inflation pressures are building.
He also renewed his call for Australia to embrace of sovereign wealth fund, in part to help the Australian economy deal with a mining boom, which is fanning an enormous wave of investment with the economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Treasurer Wayne Swan says setting aside money in a sovereign wealth fund doesn’t make sense at the moment.
He said the money was needed to make investments in employment and infrastructure to address the capacity constraints in the economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

An Australian sovereign wealth fund has several advocates, including Malcolm Turnbull, clearly the sharpest economic mind on the opposition front bench (even if he did err in opposing the second stimulus package). In a thoughtful speech in April, Turnbull stated: ‘I believe that the time has come for Australia to create a new sovereign wealth fund’.
There are three arguments typically made by proponents of a sovereign wealth fund. First, some say that with the Australian dollar at historic highs, we should be amassing greenbacks as a form of insurance against a currency slump……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The first session of The Australian-Melbourne Institute’s Growth Challenge conference in Melbourne today has heard that the government should work towards establishing a sovereign wealth fund to help stabilise the income volatility created by the mining boom.
An outgoing Reserve Bank board member, Warwick McKibbin, said policy in Australia should be designed to help the nation build for the future……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Future Fund has gone into partnership with a land developer to buy and develop greenfield sites on the outskirts of the major cities.
West Australian-based property developer Peet Limited yesterday announced a partnership to buy land in areas of projected population growth and develop master-planned communities……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Government of Singapore Investment Corp. lost a bid to move forward with a $1.5 billion offer for a group of resorts that hedge fund Paulson & Co. is seeking to restructure.
The Singapore sovereign wealth fund, known as GIC, says the five resorts are putting it and other creditors at risk by prolonging their bankruptcy case and should instead be put up for sale……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Special economic corridor Iskandar Malaysia could soon see growth by leaps and bounds, as nearby Singapore finally appears to be getting serious about investing in the special economic zone. Sold to investors as a cheaper alternative to pricey Singapore, Iskandar Malaysia is looking at around RM3 billion (US$989.28 million) in upcoming investment from a partnership between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd.
With completion not expected until 2025, the advent of large-scale Singaporean investment into Iskandar Malaysia would be an enormous boon. Whether this new spree from Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings will be the start of a trend remains to be seen……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singbridge International, a unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, will jointly develop a business park in the Chinese city of Guangzhou with Singapore developer Ascendas and Guangzhou Development District (GDD), Ascendas said on Wednesday.
The 30ha business park will be developed in phases over 10 years at a total cost of 2.3 billion yuan (S$441.4 million), Ascendas said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore Airlines (SIA), 55 percent owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, said it had reached an agreement with Airbus to lease 15 more A330-300 aircraft.
SIA said in a statement on Wednesday that the aircraft will be delivered from the world’s largest plane maker between 2013 and 2015 and will use engines from Rolls-Royce………………………………………Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp. will receive additional funding annually based on its performance in the previous year, according to a report by Weekly on Stocks that was posted to websites including that of the China Securities Journal and Sohu.com.
The fund may get $50 billion as a first batch of new capital this year, the report said, without saying where it got the information……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The biggest topic they all discussed was the rise of the then easy-to-be-nasty-about Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs). At the end, I made myself rather unpopular by asking why did they really think the topic of SWFs was so vital for European competitiveness, and moreover, why did they believe they were so unwanted?
Just before this event, it was rumoured that the new owner of Manchester City was one of the dreaded SWFs. I joked that at least the blue half of Manchester currently thought SWFs were a rather good thing……………………………………….Full Article: Source

U.K. prosecutors are helping the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with inquiries into whether financial firms violated foreign bribery laws in their dealings with sovereign-wealth funds.
“We’re talking to the Americans about various issues,” Richard Alderman, director of the Serious Fraud Office, told Bloomberg in an interview. He did not identify any companies……………………………………….Full Article: Source

U.K. prosecutors are assisting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on inquiries involving financial institutions and whether bribes were paid in transactions with sovereign wealth funds.
The Serious Fraud Office, which prosecutes corruption and white collar crime in Britain, has been contacted by the U.S. regarding the probes, SFO Director Richard Alderman said………………………………………Full Article: Source

The province will announce that Alberta’s much maligned Heritage Fund had a banner year, earning more than $1 billion last year to boost its total to $15.2 billion.
The fund, started in 1976 as a rainy-day fund, increased by 10.4 per cent, nearly double the typical rate of increase, according to a recent Alberta Finance report to the all-party Heritage Savings Trust Fund committee……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Nigeria’s foreign-currency reserves may rise 24 percent to the highest in a year in the second half of 2011 as it creates a sovereign wealth fund, tightens spending and lifts curbs on inflows, FBN Capital Ltd. said.
The foreign-currency reserves of Africa’s top oil producer may rise to $40 billion, FBN Capital, the investment-banking unit of First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FIRSTBAN), said………………………………………Full Article: Source

A $10 billion Russian sovereign fund launched this week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), will help drive investment between MENA and Russia.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a $10 billion Russian sovereign fund launched this week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), has the key features necessary to drive investment, especially between the Middle East & North Africa region, and Russia……………………………………….Full Article: Source

London-listed Vallar , the controlling shareholder of Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter Bumi Resources, said sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp wanted its $1.9 billion loan to Bumi to be repaid in cash.
“CIC wants cash, not swap its loan with CB (convertible bonds),” Vallar’s CEO Ari Hudaya told Reuters……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China Investment Corporation, the country’s US$300 billion sovereign wealth fund, is considering buying a 5 percent stake in OAO Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, media reports say. According to Interfax, the first round of negotiations has already taken place.
Sberbank, a crown asset in Russia’s three-year US$35.5 billion privatization drive, is selling off a stake of up to 7.6 percent by mid-September and is expected to roll out its privatization program soon, China’s 21st Century Business Herald reports……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp, the country’s US$300-billion sovereign wealth fund, may obtain a cash injection of US$50 billion this year, since the Chinese government expects to diversify its foreign exchange reserves, sources reported, citing unnamed executives of CIC.
CIC has submitted an application to the State Council for the new round of capital injection which will be approved as soon as the fund completes a reshuffle of its investment department……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) yesterday announced the appointments of acting chairmen for its GIC Real Estate and GIC Special Investments units.
The move comes after Dr Tony Tan said last week that he was quitting all of his positions at GIC, including those of group deputy chairman and executive director, as well as his chairmanship at Singapore Press Holdings, as he seeks to contest in the Presidential Election, which is due before Sept 1……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., the Chinese hypermarket operator backed by France’s Groupe Auchan SA, plans to raise as much as HK$8.2 billion ($1.1 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering.
The Shanghai-based company, which counts Wal-Mart Stores Inc. among its competitors, plans to sell 1.14 billion new shares for HK$5.65 to HK$7.20 each, according to a sales document obtained yesterday by Bloomberg News. About half the stock will go to nine so-called cornerstone investors, including Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and Tiger Global Management LLC, which agreed to invest $40 million each……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mapletree Investments, a property arm of Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, is in discussions to buy the Festival Walk retail complex (picture) in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Tong district, the Sing Tao Daily reported yesterday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter.
Sing Tao said Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific may divest Festival Walk for HK$22 billion (S$3.5 billion). If successful, the sale would be the biggest property transaction in the city’s history, the newspaper said, without citing anyone……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The coming together of Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings to develop RM30bil worth of real estate projects in Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia will help UEM Land Holdings Bhd make a great leap forward, both financially and in terms of branding, say analysts.
The tie-up also puts into focus why UEM Land launched an RM1.4bil takeover of property developer Sunrise Bhd, which was completed early this year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore and Malaysia’s state-owned investment companies have agreed to develop jointly projects in the two countries. Temasek Holdings and Khazanah Nasional will develop $9.8bn (£6bn) worth of projects in Southern Malaysia and central Singapore.
The announcement comes as the two countries signed a deal resolving a long running land dispute……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Paul Costello, who now heads the federal government’s consultative committee on its superannuation reforms, dropped something of a bombshell at a super industry lunch last week.
He bluntly told a room of several hundred people including the heads of big funds that their investment performance had failed investors. You could have heard a pin drop. Few offered a question after the speech; I think many people were too shocked……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., will likely receive a cash injection of $50 billion this year, as Beijing moves to diversify its foreign exchange reserves, Capital Week reported Monday, citing unnamed officials at the fund.
CIC has submitted an application for the new funds to the State Council, China’s cabinet, and the injection will be approved as soon as the fund completes a reshuffle of its investment department, an unnamed official at CIC was cited as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singaporean investment firm Temasek Holdings and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional yesterday announced they would jointly develop prime land parcels in both countries in projects worth about S$12.2 billion.
The move comes as the two countries sealed the Points of Agreement on Malayan railway land in Singapore. The two investment giants have established two subsidiaries - M+S and Pulau Indah Ventures - for the purpose. M+S, in which Temasek has a 40-per-cent stake and Khazanah the other 60 per cent, will develop sites in Marina South and the Ophir-Rochor area in Singapore………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will jointly develop prime land parcels in both countries into projects worth about S$12.2 billion.
The two investment firms have established two subsidiaries - M+S Pte Ltd and Pulau Indah Ventures Sdn Bhd - for the purpose. Temasek has a 40 percent stake in M+S while Khazanah owns the remaining 60 percent stake………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Acting Chairmen for GIC Real Estate and GIC Special Investments.The changes come in the wake of Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam’s resignation as GIC Deputy Chairman and Executive Director, and are effective July 1 2011.
Mr Lim Hng Kiang will be Acting Chairman of GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd, and Mr Ang Kong Hua will be Acting Chairman of GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd. Both men are currently directors of the companies………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) on Tuesday announced that Trade and Industry Minister, Lim Hng Kiang, will be acting Chairman of GIC Real Estate.
Mr Lim is currently a director of the company. This follows the resignation of former Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan as GIC’s Deputy Chairman and Executive Director effective July 1………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Chinese hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., which will launch book building for institutional investors Tuesday, has locked in cornerstone investors including a sovereign wealth fund for its around US$1 billion Hong Kong initial public offering, two people familiar with the situation said Monday.
The cornerstone investments account for around 40% of the offer, the people said, adding the company plans to sell 1.14 billion shares. They declined to provide the indicative price range or other details of the deal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kyrgyz and Kazakhstani officials will create a US $100m (4.5 billion KGS or 14.6 billion KZT) investment fund, Kazakhstan Today reported June 27. An accord was signed during a visit by a delegation from Kazakhstan’s Samruk-Kazyna sovereign wealth fund.
The fund will finance Kyrgyz business ventures in energy, telecoms, transport infrastructure, tourism and other fields………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Institutional fund managers have undertaken a dramatic shift to direct hedge fund investing following the global financial crisis, according to a new survey from Citi Prime Finance.
The survey, “Global Pensions and Sovereign Wealth Funds Investment in Hedge Funds: The Growth and Impact of Direct Investing”, is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with nearly 60 major investors representing $1.65 trillion in assets under management as well as hedge fund managers representing $186 billion in assets under management, reveals that pensions and sovereign wealth funds have not only been increasing their hedge fund investment programs but are taking a more active and “direct” approach to allocating these investments, as opposed to using traditional fund of funds. This trend has significant implications for hedge fund managers seeking to attract this capital. (Press Release)

China’s purchase of euros will be a long-term strategy and will not swing on short-term problems, the Hong Kong head of China’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund said on Sunday.
“There is noting to be worried about. The euro will not fall apart,” Laurence Lau, chaiman of the Hong Kong office of China Investment Corp, told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Beijing………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China Investment Corp., the country’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, is tipped to buy a 5 percent stake in Sberbank, a Chinese newspaper reported, citing sources. The 21st Century Business Herald reported that an unidentified investment bank that is arranging the partial privatization of Sberbank has contacted CIC for a possible deal.
“The investment bank and CIC have made initial contact and if everything is smooth, they will start to talk about the [Sberbank] equity deal soon,” one source was quoted by the Chinese newspaper as saying………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Zhang Junsai, China’s ambassador to Canada, said his country is willing to invest heavily in Canada. He told The Associated Press that the fact that China’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp., chose Toronto as the venue for its first overseas office is a “very good sign.”
The fund invested $800 million in Calgary-based Penn West Energy last year and $1.5 billion in Canadian mining company Teck Resources in 2009………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZS) was conceived by Michael Cullen, Labour Finance Minister from 1999 to 2008, and created by an act of Parliament in October 2001. Its mission is “to maximise the fund’s return over the long term, without undue risk, so as to reduce New Zealanders’ future tax burden”.
The establishment of the fund recognised New Zealand’s ageing population as a significant and multigenerational social and financial challenge………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The best thing the Kurdistan Regional Government can do ahead of the oil boom is to establish a fully-transparent sovereign wealth fund. The region’s oil should be a resource for generations, not an asset to be spent on jewelry, luxury cars, and ostentatious homes for the elite and politically-connected few.
Norway and Kuwait established the first sovereign wealth funds more than a half century ago in order to channel oil income into investment funds which not only would amplify revenue, but would also ensure the resources would protect the governments against declines in oil prices and the day when oil ran out………………………………………..Full Article: Source

U.S. bank Goldman Sachs lacked the standard documents it needed to protect itself in a series of options trades it made for the Libyan Investment Authority in 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The contracts, which are standard for the industry when structuring international deals in murky markets such as credit default swaps, would have defined the exact terms of the relationship between Goldman and the sovereign wealth fund controlled by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Journal said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose by $59 million to $310.56 billion for the week ended June 17 due to increase in the value of foreign currency assets even as the value of special drawing rights (SDRs) and reserves with the International Monetary Fund declined.
The forex reserves have risen for the fourth time in the past five reporting weeks. The country’s foreign exchange reserves kitty had dropped by $2.40 billion for the week ended June 10 after registering a gain of $5.41 billion in the previous three weeks………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Tony Tan, executive director at Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, said on Thursday he has resigned and will run for president in an election that must be held before end-August.
Tan, a former deputy prime minister, has also resigned as chairman of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which controls almost all newspapers published in the city-state………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The deputy chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) said he had resigned to run for the state presidency, whose duties include safeguarding its vast foreign reserves.
Tony Tan, 71, a former deputy prime minister and government minister, on Thursday said he would stand as an independent and was stepping down from the sovereign wealth fund in order to do so………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Former deputy prime minister Tony Tan said he decided to come forward and run for president because he could not remain a spectator while Singapore faces “complex changes”. He said that the past few years had seen difficult times and “unprecedented changes in the global financial system and world politics”.
Singapore, like other countries, is still “grappling with hiccups” and the need to undertake tough decisions to reform institutions in coming years, he added. That is why he believes the country needs “a president with experience and a steady hand”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings has named two existing endowments after two Singaporeans to pay tribute to their contributions to social service and health care. They are the late philanthropist Ee Peng Liang and Dr Balaji Sadasivan, the late senior minister of state.
Dr Ee was widely recognised as Singapore’s Father of Charity, while Dr Balaji made his mark as a neurosurgeon and politician………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings has named two existing endowments under Temasek Cares after two Singaporeans in honour of their roles and contributions in social service and healthcare.
They are the late philanthropist Dr Ee Peng Liang, and the late former Senior Minister of State Dr Balaji Sadasivan. The S$35 million Ee Peng Liang Endowment is earmarked for capability building in the special needs………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s US$200 billion sovereign wealth fund is considering buying a US$4 billion stake in Russia’s largest commercial bank, media reports said.
China Investment Corp has received a proposal from investment banks, which are now lobbying global clients to buy a total of 7.6 percent of OAO Sberbank. Russia’s biggest state-controlled lender is expected to roll out its privatization program soon, 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has begun investing in China’s domestic equity and bond markets after being granted a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor license in November, allowing the territory to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves into the Chinese yuan, Chief Executive Norman Chan said.
China has issued QFII licenses to other central banks, including those of Norway and Malaysia, as well as to sovereign-wealth funds in Singapore and Abu Dhabi, as part of its bid to increase the use of the yuan around the world………………………………………..Full Article: Source

As superannuation funds seek to move further into the provision of full service financial planning, a recent report prepared for the West Australian Government has raised some serious questions about what is really in members’ best interests.
As a growing number of superannuation funds seek to enter the financial planning market, a report prepared for the West Australian Government has thrown up a range of issues that cannot be ignored by either the Federal Government or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Delegation of Sumruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund JSC led by Deputy Chairman of the Board Aidan Karibzhanov arrived in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on Thursday. Representatives of the Fund held a meeting with First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Omurbek Babanov to discuss the extension of economic links between the two states.
“The Kyrgyz side attaches great importance to this meeting and hopes that the bilateral dialogue will be the impetus for further negotiations on developing a set of mechanisms to start the process of establishing the Kyrgyz-Kazakh investment fund and its effective functioning,” Babanov noted………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Alberta’s rainy day fund has pumped $33 billion into provincial government programs and services since 1976, but its per capita value has dropped in recent years to less than when it was created, according to figures supplied by Alberta Finance officials.
Data given to an all-party Heritage Savings Trust Fund committee this week shows that when inflation and population growth are taken into account, the fund is shrinking………………………………………..Full Article: Source