Sovereign Wealth Funds Briefing - Archive | May, 2014
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC is planning to sell the Great White Course, a 53ha Greg Norman-designed golf property adjacent to the luxury Trump National Doral Miami resort that may fetch US$200 million (S$250 million) as real estate prices surge in southern Florida.
GIC hired CBRE to market the course, which it bought in February last year as part of its US$1.5 billion acquisition of bankrupt resorts owned by a group led by hedge fund Paulson & Co. The land has permits for residential, office and retail development, said CBRE vice-chairman Robert Given and senior vice-president Gerard Yetming………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Mineral-rich Mozambique is considering the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund, the country’s finance minister said Thursday. “We think it’s a good idea,” Manuel Chang said“But we won’t do what others have done,” he added, suggesting Mozambique would not rush into creating the fund given other pressing demands that will require huge injections to fix, such as the infrastructure.
An estimated $10 billion in foreign investment are expected to flow into the southern African country once a natural gas processing plant is built on its northern coast. Mozambique’s reserves are believed to be the world’s third largest………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF) will be raising about $350 million for a new fund, two people close to the development said. OIJIF, a equal joint venture between State Bank of India (SBI) and State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), will start raising money from December. SGRF is Oman’s sovereign wealth fund.
Some of the other sovereign funds investing in India include Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC), Singapore’s Temasek Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) is worried about Government’s abuse of the fiscal discipline provided in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (Act 815). According to a recent report signed and released by the Executive Director ACEP, Mohammed Amin Adam, after the campaign by some Government officials for the use of the Ghana Heritage Fund failed, some preliminary checks have alleged that Government has now shifted its plan to the Ghana Stabilization Fund.
“This must not be allowed at these formative years of the petroleum revenue management law,” the statement noted. ACEP calls on Parliament to investigate the utilization of the excess revenues from the Ghana Stabilization Fund. The report also calls on the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) to demand answers from Government on this anomaly………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is one of the largest wealth funds in the world and also considered to be one of the best managed, hardly feeling any effect of the financial crisis. Can private investors learn anything from this sovereign behemoth?
Norway’s Government Pension Fund was set up in 1990 as a fiscal policy tool to support the long-term management of Norway’s petroleum revenue. The fund today is estimated to be worth $860 billion; it is growing every single day and the wealth is technically public. The fund own 1.3% of all listed companies and returned a staggering 15.9% during 2013, its best performance ever and a total gain of roughly $120 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Talks with creditors of Kazakhstan’s wealth fund-controlled Alliance Bank have broken down without agreement, the bank’s chief executive said on Thursday. “Negotiations have broken down, no agreement was reached,” Timur Isatayev said.
Alliance is 51 percent owned by local sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, which has reduced its stake in recent weeks………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 30 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
North Dakota is enjoying a flood of biblical proportions. Shale-drilling technology has liberated huge quantities of oil from the Bakken shale in the western part of the state. Production has surged from about 100,000 barrels per day in 2007 to nearly 1 million barrels per day this year—a tenfold increase.
But North Dakota, America’s latest petro-state, is handling its newfound wealth with the kind of modesty you might expect in a land where people live in giant open spaces and at the mercy of nature. Decades of boom and bust in agriculture have forged a culture of thrift, an abhorrence of debt, and a healthy mistrust of high finance. Alone among the 50 states, North Dakota has a state-owned bank. It never had much of a housing and credit boom, so it never had much of a housing bust………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 29 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Singapore’s GIC Pte is planning to sell the Great White Course, a 130-acre golf property adjacent to Trump National Doral Miami that may fetch $200 million as real estate prices surge in southern Florida.
The sovereign wealth fund hired CBRE Group Inc. to market the course, which it bought in February 2013 as part of its $1.5 billion acquisition of bankrupt resorts owned by a group led by hedge fund Paulson & Co. The land has permits for residential, office and retail development, according to CBRE Vice Chairman Robert Given and Senior Vice President Gerard Yetming……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 29 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Since the fund got the permission to enter the property market in 2010, it has performed well with a high return. The fund owns properties in Times Square and the Champs Elysees and is thinking to expand the investment globally.
To “reduce the probability of making really big mistakes,” Kallevig said to Bloomberg that the fund is looking to invest in Washington, San Francisco, New York and Boston. In Europe, it’s targeting London, Paris, Munich and Berlin, he said. No specific cities in Asia were mentioned. But its efforts to enter Asia are about to intensify, said Kallevig. The fund will pick two cities in Asia and the selection will use the same criteria as it has used in Europe and the US………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 29 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The study, commissioned by Norway’s Ministry of Finance, “Review of the Active Management of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global,” took a close look at the management of the fund since the 2007-2008 financial crisis and found that in order to realize greater returns, the fund should take more risk and adopt the opportunity cost management model pioneered by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
“The Fund has been run extremely efficiently; everyone involved in its management is conscientious about delivering high-quality investment management services at the lowest cost,” says Andrew Ang, Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business and Chair of the Finance and Economics Division at Columbia Business School. “However, we found that by reducing its exposure to risk since 2009, the Fund is likely missing out on opportunities to increase returns through a more balanced approach. The Canadian model would help improve that.” (Press Release)
Posted on 29 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The second to last week of May was momentous for countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was hosted on May 22-24 in Russia. During the conference, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) highlighted some significant recent deals and joint ventures. In a continuous strategy to expand foreign investment from non-Western nations, Russia has courted East Asian and Gulf countries.
Through money moves and conference speeches, Russia is making a case for institutional investors not to ignore one of the top eight largest economies in the world. For example, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is going to invest US$ 2 billion in Russia through joint investments with the RDIF……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Australian sovereign wealth fund has appointed a new head of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk management. The $96.5 billion Future Fund announced it has hired Joel Posters to lead its ESG program. Posters is set to join the fund in August.
“Integrating ESG risk management into our investment decision-making is an important part of our program,” David Neal, CIO of the Future Fund, said in a statement. According to the Melbourne-based fund, Posters will be working with the investment team to manage ESG risk and “continuing to oversee the exercise of our ownership rights and engagement with investee entities in conjunction with our external investment managers.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Fullerton Fund Management and Nikko Asset Management Asia have become the first Singapore-based fund firms to receive renminbi qualified institutional investor (RQFII) licences from China.
Fullerton, a subsidiary of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, yesterday said it had received approval. The firm plans to launch two RQFII mutual funds - actively managed equity and bond products………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
BP’s chief economist Christof Rühl will be leaving the firm to become the first global head of research at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). He will join ADIA in July 2014 and will be responsible for establishing and managing a new, independent, global research unit located within ADIA’s Evaluation and Follow-up Division. He will be based in Abu Dhabi.
ADIA is one of the longest-established and largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, with assets estimated at $773bn by the US-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. Rühl joins ADIA from BP where, as group chief economist and vice president since 2005, he has managed BP’s global economics team and provided the economic underpinning for BP’s commercial and strategic decisions……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Dubai Government’s principal investment arm, the Investment Corporation of Dubai, has successfully priced a $1 billion sukuk and bond issue, strengthening the fund’s capacity to invest amid a rising market.
The ICD made the announcement on Tuesday for the dual tranche issue comprising six-year $700 million sukuk and 10-year $300 million conventional bonds. The sukuk profit rate was set at 3.508 per cent per annum while the coupon for the conventional bonds was 4.625 per cent. The dual tranche offering was very well received globally and generated a substantial order book that was more than three times oversubscribed………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Bonds sold earlier this month by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) sparked demand three times in excess of what was offered, signalling that investors have put debt woes behind them as the UAE’s economy flourishes.
ICD’s sale, the first for the Dubai government investment giant, also comes amid renewed interest in emerging market debt, an asset class that has been battered by the tapering of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus and political and economic instability in countries such as Russia, Brazil and Indonesia………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 28 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
African sovereign wealth funds are emerging to save and invest resource revenues. If efficient, they could also boost domestic growth and credit ratings. For more on the newly created sovereign wealth fund in Senegal, CNBC Africa spoke to Amadou Hott, the Director General of FONSIS.……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) has a 13.4 per cent stake in Deutsche Annington, Germany’s largest publicly traded owner of apartments. The Abu Dhabi government-owned sovereign wealth fund was required by German financial rules to make the disclosure after a change in Deutsche Annington’s investment structure. Deutsche announced the disclosure yesterday in a statement.
Adia was one of the largest investors in the €2.1 billion (Dh10.52bn) Terra Firma Deutsche Annington Fund, set up in 2006 to hold the majority interest in Deutsche Annington……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Many countries have set up government-owned sovereign wealth funds to accelerate their investment potential, but such a move is unlikely to be a silver bullet for South Africa’s own growth ills.
These funds are state investment vehicles that hold and manage or administer large pools of public funds. But for such funds to be effective, money must come from somewhere, and South Africa does not stand out as a powerful candidate due to its trade and fiscal deficits, lack of privatisation and slow resource exports………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Newly appointed South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will divest from Shanduka, the black investment firm he founded more than a decade ago, to avoid conflicts of interest with his government duties, the company said on Monday.
Shanduka, which is 25 percent owned by China’s sovereign wealth fund, also said it would merge with another prominent investment company, creating what is likely to be South Africa’s largest black-owned private investment group………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Olam International, controlled by a unit of Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, may be able to cut annual borrowing costs after a change in ownership control, according to Jefferies Group LLC. Spreads on Olam’s 5.75 per cent US dollar-denominated bonds due in 2017 have narrowed 147 basis points since March 14, according to BNP Paribas SA prices.
The cost of financing Olam’s about $7 billion in debt will shrink by about $100 million a year based on the spread narrowing 140 basis points, Abhijit Attavar, a Singapore-based Jefferies analyst, said. Breedens Investments Pte, a unit of Temasek, and its related parties own or control 80 per cent of Singapore-based Olam, they said in a statement on May 23 after a takeover offer closed. Breedens on March 14 had offered $2.23 each for the shares of Olam it didn’t own, valuing one of the world’s top three coffee and rice traders at $5.3 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 27 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Fullerton Fund Management, the asset management unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd, said it has been awarded a license that gives it more access to China’s mainland capital markets, joining international funds like BlackRock.
Fullerton was granted Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) status by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the firm said in a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Norway’s $870 billion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s largest investors, has pulled its investments out of Argentina, a top fund official said on Friday, blaming the government’s protectionist policies there.
Latin America’s No. 3 economy has been struggling to maintain investor confidence following repeated market interventions by President Cristina Fernandez and amid an ongoing legal battle over a massive debt default. Her administration also heavily regulates capital flows and imports. “We have pulled out from Argentina,” Trond Grande, the fund’s deputy chief executive, told a business seminar………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Norges Bank Investment Management has emerged on Goodman Fielder’s register just one week after Wilmar and First Pacific secured a recommendation from the Goodman board for their $1.37 billion takeover for the food group.
According to an ASX filing on Friday Norges Bank, the investment manager of Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund, has built up a 5.06 per cent stake in the maker of Wonder White bread and Meadowlea margarine………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Norway’s USD860bn wealth fund, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, is beefing up efforts to enter Asia as part of its expansion into the property market around the world. Karsten Kallevig, who heads the real estate team for Norges Bank Investment Management, said that as the fund’s push into Asia takes shape, the fund will narrow its focus to two cities.
The entry will be based on the same criteria it has used in Europe and the US, tapping cities with the best growth potential and where there are supply constraints, Kallevig said. The fund’s property portfolio now stands at USD10bn and that could grow to more than USD61bn by 2020, said Kallevig………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
France, the fifth largest economy in the world, is beset by structural issues of a bloated public sector and restrictive labour laws that stifle economic growth. “France is too big to ignore . . . there are more Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Paris than anywhere else in Europe,” said Laurent Vigier, chairman and CEO of CDC International Capital, a subsidiary of French sovereign wealth fund Caisse des Depots Group.
He plans to come to Singapore in June to meet officials at Temasek Holdings and the sovereign wealth fund, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC). France is partnering other sovereign wealth funds from Qatar, the UAE and Russia in a one billion euro (S$1.7 billion) investment fund aiming to take equity stakes in French company- involved projects in real estate and infrastructure………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Sometimes, investing in the mainland is a bit like stumbling into the Twilight Zone - especially if you are thinking about being a strategic investor in a major initial public offering. The idea of taking a strategic stake appeals because you get access to business sectors that a foreign firm might find hard to enter, given the notorious barriers in many mainland markets.
But then you have to understand that even domestically, the playing field is far from level. The plum, fat deals go to the state-owned enterprises. Private companies and foreign business get the scraps that are left………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The chairman of China’s massive sovereign wealth fund has said that monetary easing in the euro zone would be “good news” and open up market opportunities.
China Investment Corporation (CIC), which is responsible for managing some of the country’s massive currency reserves, was founded in 2007 and has $575 billion of assets under management, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, and is the fourth-largest wealth fund of its kind in the world………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
China’s colossal sovereign wealth fund will contemplate further investment in European assets if the European Central Bank (ECB) rolls out further stimulus measures, the head of the fund has said.
Chairman Ding Xuedong, who runs the $575bn (£341bn, €422bn) China Investment Corporation (CIC), believes monetary easing in the eurozone will spell “good news.” Xuedong told CNBC that any forthcoming stimulus measures by the ECB will be justified………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is allocating $2bn to Russia via joint investments with state-backed private equity fund the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of Russia’s fund said.
The RDIF invests alongside foreign partners and has previously attracted money from the Middle East and Asia including the Kuwait Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source
Posted on 26 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has handed Apollo Global Management a $750 million mandate that will target a range of investments across the credit spectrum.
Board directors gave the green light this week for the $48.8 billion state fund to pursue a strategic partnership with the firm, allowing Alaska to invest alongside Apollo and through its commingled funds……………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Gulf countries disclose scant details about their sovereign-wealth funds (SWFs), but Saudi Arabia is the most cautious investor, says Michael Maduell of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, an American outfit which tracks them. Most of the $750 billion hoard it has piled up over the past decade of high oil prices is sitting at the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency, the country’s central bank.
It invests its reserves mainly in bonds and equities, rather than less liquid but more lucrative assets such as property. In 2008 the government set up a more adventurous investment arm, Sanabil. But it holds assets of perhaps $5 billion, compared with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s $773 billion or Kuwait Investment Authority’s $410 billion………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Vornado Realty Trust is in close talks with a Qatar sovereign-wealth fund to finance its planned condo tower on Central Park South. The Qatar Investment Authority would provide hundreds of millions of dollars to finance the 950-foot tower, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The real estate investment trust has reportedly spent about $510 million on the site so far. It has been looking to construct the tower without having to put more of its own money into the project and this deal will help the company meet that goal. The sovereign Arab emirate has shown great interest in New York City real estate in recent months. Earlier this year, the government of Qatar bought a townhouse at 19 E. 64th St. for $100 million. It plans to set up its New York consulate there………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, the Norway Pension Fund—Global, is seeking to diversify into private equity and infrastructure.The fund is lobbying the Norwegian government to allow it to allocate a portion of its $860 billion portfolio into the two asset classes, according to Bloomberg. It currently holds predominantly equities and fixed income, as well as a 5% position in real estate, overseen by Karsten Kallevig, CIO for real estate.
A spokesperson for the Norway Pension Fund could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
As of the first quarter of 2014, some 51.2 percent of the total volume of the investment portfolio of the Azerbaijani State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) is in U.S. dollars ($18.6 billion), SOFAZ said on May 20. As of January-March, the total sum of SOFAZ’s investment portfolio amounted to $36.344 billion or 99.3 percent of total volume of assets, according to the report.
Around 36.9 percent of the investment portfolio is concentrated in euros (9.75 billion euros), 5 percent in British pounds sterling (about 1.08 billion pounds sterling), 1.2 percent in Turkish Lira, 0.5 percent in Australian Dollars and 1.2 percent in Russian rubles, 0.6 percent in Korean won. The rest of the portfolio at 3.5 percent ($1.26 million) is concentrated in gold………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Sovereign Wealth Funds, the top investors in Europe’s key real estate markets increased their activity last year and now account for total investment volumes of €5.5 billion, a year on year rise of 30%. They are making key deals in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK, according to a new survey from international property consultants Savills.
The top SWFs identified by the report comprise of five funds from the Middle East and Asia Pacific and the average deal size per investor group during this period was €700 million, up on €247 million in 2012, with two of their nine transactions being portfolios………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
GIC Private Limited, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund (SWF) with US$100 billion in AUM, has jointly invested an additional $50 million into India’s Vasan Healthcare Group, alongside venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and WestBridge Capital.
The second round of investment from GIC comes two years after the SWF bought a $100 million stake in the Chennai-based medical service provider, which specialises in ophthalmology and dentistry. Sequoia and Westbridge have previously invested $50 million into Vasan across three separate rounds of fundraising. Together, the three investors own 45% of the company, with the remaining shareholding held by chairman and managing director A M Arun………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has figured out a way to get raises for its staff that other state employees are aren’t getting, said Mike Burns, the state-owned corporation’s executive director.
The $51 billion Alaska Permanent Fund provides earnings with which to manage the fund, as well as annual dividends to most Alaskans, but its budget still needs legislative approval………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 23 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
North Dakota’s oil tax savings account is about to top $2 billion. The Legacy Fund gets 30 percent of the state’s oil tax collections. The money can’t be touched before 2017 and it would still take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for the state to dip into the fund.
North Dakota voters approved the fund in 2010. It received its first deposit of $34.3 million in September 2011. Monthly deposits have averaged $61 million, and the fund surpassed $1 billion in April 2013. This month’s transfer of $81.7 million will put the account over the $2 billion mark, State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt said………………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
State investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has won a six-month extension on a US$1.9 billion (RM6.1 billion) bridge loan, giving it more time to launch a planned initial public offering (IPO) of its power assets to cut debt, people familiar with the matter said.
The IPO, which aims to raise as much as US$2 billion and is seen as critical to reducing the fund’s debt load, is now expected in the second half of this year, the people said. Bankers had initially said the IPO could come by mid-year, but it has been pushed back due to delays related to a tender to build a coal-fired power plant that it ultimately won, as well as delays in publishing its financial accounts after a change in auditors…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government’s investment arm, is looking forward to opportunities from a reforms push by the new government in India of Narendra Modi. It is bullish on small companies in the health care and biotechnology space in India and will look for sectors that might get opened for foreign direct investment (FDI), a senior Temasek official said here.
Stephen Forshaw, its managing director, strategic and public affairs, said, “We always had a very strong interest in India. We have two offices there and are fundamentally optimistic in the long term about India. All signs with the change of government, though it is still early days, are very positive about the reform agenda.”……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Indian eBay Inc. affiliate Snapdeal.com on Wednesday, May 21, announced its second financing round of the year. The $100 million fundraising from an international investor group is understood to value the company at as much as $1 billion and provides cash to invest in infrastructure and winning new customers.
Snapdeal, of New Delhi, said its backers were Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., New York’s BlackRock Inc., Myriad Asset Management and Tybourne Capital Management Ltd., both of Hong Kong. Premji Invest, the investment vehicle of Wipro Ltd., and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
A new $172m (€125m) venture capital fund has been set up to aid innovative companies to grow and create jobs in Ireland. Firms in the life-sciences sector can apply for the funding, which includes a €20m investment from Enterprise Ireland and a commitment of €10m from the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF).
Leading US-based Lightstone Ventures – which has opened a new office in Dublin – raised the fund, which is backed by the Department of Jobs and Enterprise Ireland…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
The budget revenues of Azerbaijan’s state oil fund SOFAZ reached 3.005 billion manats in the first three months of 2014. SOFAZ’s budget expenditures amounted to over 2.443 billion manats in the mentioned period.
The revenues were received from the implementation of oil and gas agreements, including over 2.99 billion manats from the sale of profit oil and gas, 2.3 million manats for transit payments, and 13.3 million manats for bonus payments, SOFAZ said on May 20…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Norway is facing lawsuits from investors in the nation’s gas pipelines, including Allianz AG (AGFHREI) and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund. They are seeking to reverse a 2013 decision by the government to cut the tariffs they can charge to transport fuel by as much as 90 percent.
The reductions were proposed less that 1 1/2 years after Norway ended its support for the then AAA and now junk-rated lender Eksportfinans ASA, roiling bond markets as far away as Japan…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Samruk-Kazyna is Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund — it is like the big winner in a game of Monopoly. It owns the railroad company (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy), the electric company (KEGOC), the nuclear company (Kazatomprom), KMG and all or part of other companies that include an airline and the postal service.
KMG Kashagan BV owns 16.8 percent of the Kashagan project. The KMG press release said the company has an interest in making a new deal on “agreement about contribution and transference of KMG Kashagan BV shares between KMG, CooperativeKazMunaiGaz and KMG Kashagan BV.”……………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Managing Director of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) Bader Al-Saad said Wednesday the volume of KIA’s investments in Germany tripled in the last decade and grew by 80 percent in the last three years. “KIA maintained a strong and sustainable presence in the German economy, which is the largest in Europe, over the last five decades,” he said, noting that the Authority maintains close ties with German banks and investors.
Al-Saad is a member of the senior-level delegation accompanying the First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on a visit to Germany on the occasion of the 50’s anniversary of the diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the KIA-Daimler Group partnership…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 22 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Katari Hospitality, part of the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund that specialises in domestic and foreign investment, has added to its growing portfolio by purchasing five Intercontinental hotels.
Located across five European cities, the hotels include the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes and Amsterdam’s Amstel InterContinental. Katari Hospitality will also be taking join control of InterContinental hotels in Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome…………………………………….Full Article: Source
Posted on 21 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek’s stake in Standard Chartered has dipped to just below 18 percent after it opted to take the bank’s latest dividend in cash, while a majority of other investors took their payouts in shares.
Temasek has been Standard Chartered’s biggest investor since 2006. It said on Tuesday its holding had dipped to 17.75 percent, from 18.06 percent at the end of December. Any change in holding through a percentage point needs to be disclosed…………………………………Full Article: Source
Posted on 21 May 2014 by VRS | Email |Print
We’ve all heard of the Sage of Omaha. Enter the Sage of Singapore? GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund fancies its chances. Like Warren Buffett, the fund, which is keen to boost its investment in Mexico, has a strategy of patience and long-term investment.
Here is Anthony Lim, its Americas president: We would like to build up a cachet, for people to see us as an institutional version of Warren Buffett. Gulp. Just Google “invest like Warren Buffett” and you’ll get more than a million matches, some even telling you why you will never succeed. GIC is under no illusions…………………………………Full Article: Source