China’s sovereign wealth fund is shifting its focus to invest in agriculture and global food supplies in a significant strategic move that reflects the priorities of the country’s new leadership.
In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, Ding Xuedong, chairman of China Investment Corp, said the country’s $650bn sovereign wealth fund wants to invest more in agriculture around the world and “across the entire value chain”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZ Super) has named Matt Whineray as its new chief investment officer. Whineray has been with NZ Super since 2008 in the role of general manager, investments.
Prior to that he was a head of financial sponsor coverage for non-Japan Asia at Credit Suisse, based in Hong Kong. Before that he was a director at First NZ Capital in New Zealand………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Australian infrastructure and real estate investment will be a target for South Korea’s $US405 billion ($433.4 billion) sovereign pension fund over the next five years as the fund significantly cranks up its offshore investments.
The head of investment strategy at the National Pension Service (NPS), Yoon Pyo Lee, said the fund planned to lift its total offshore investments by $US159 billion to $US237 billion over the next five years. NPS is the fourth-biggest sovereign pension fund in the world. More importantly it sets the investment allocation benchmark for all other large pension funds in Korea……………………………………….Full Article: Source

China’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $3.948 trillion at the end of the first quarter. The figure in 1978 was $167 million, and in November 1996 it surpassed $100 billion for the first time. The change has been amazing.
There have been many thoughts about how we in China can make use of the forex reserve, ranging from buying assets abroad to using it as leverage in diplomatic talks. What needs emphasizing is that the reserve is not a free buffet. It corresponds to the central bank’s debt in yuan and costs dearly to maintain………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA)’s asset allocation behaviors are becoming more conservative to fall in line with the nation’s economic development agenda and stronger presence in the region, according to GeoEconomica. The Geneva-based political risk management firm said the once “aggressive deal hunting” sovereign wealth fund—guided by former CEO Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani—had been less active during the past few months, passing on opportunities such as Deutsche Bank’s recent capital increase.
“The modi operandi of most sovereign wealth funds, in one way or another, mirror the political cultures and ambitions of the governments that own them,” the report said. “Qatar’s international position has most recently come under significant pressure and the Doha has to deliver on a massive economic development program over the coming decade.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

POSCO Group, jointly with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, will build an automobile assembly plant in Saudi Arabia with an annual capacity of 150,000 cars. The group will also cooperate actively with construction projects to build social infrastructures such as homes and plants.
According to company sources on June 17, POSCO chairman Kwon Oh-joon met on the 13rd with Abdulrahman M. Al Mofadhi, Acting Secretary General of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and signed an agreement for mutual cooperation. Earlier in February he had discussed with Mr. Al Mofadhi before being appointed as POSCO chairman for a possible deal to build an auto plant………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Federal Government announced N3.73 billion as the balance in the Excess Crude Account saying that the amount rose from N3.6 billion in April to the level in May. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Jonah Otunla, also revealed N648.349 billion was the total allocation shared by the three ters of government.
The amount represented N582.934 billion Statutory Allocation and N65.415 billion realised from the Value Added Tax (VAT), making the total distributable revenue for the month to be N648.349 billion which when compared to last month, is N49.177 billion higher, adding that the total allocation to SURE-P as ususaI, is N35.55 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) are state-owned investment funds typically (though not exclusively) funded through revenues from commodity exports or foreign exchange reserves held by central banks which invest in real and financial assets-stocks, bonds, real estate, infrastructure, precious metals or alternative investments such as private equity and hedge funds.
The term “sovereign wealth fund” was reportedly first used in 2005 by one Andrew Rozanov in an article titled, “Who Holds the Wealth of Nations?” in Central Banking Journal, even though such funds have existed for over a century. The number of SWFs has however dramatically increased in the 2000s………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from Nigeria and Russia last month became the 27th and 28th members of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) – and the global network is expecting its ranks to continue swelling once its secretariat moves to London at the start of next month.
Kristian Flyvholm, secretary-general designate of the forum, which has been hosted at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since its establishment in 2009, said today it has a “very strong number of potential members who want to become full members”, adding he is “quite sure each quarter you’re going to have one or two new members joining”………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth funds, typically set up by oil-exporting nations, have been around for decades, in the case of Kuwait since 1953. But their influence has increased in recent years, as China has adopted a similar strategy for investing some of its vast foreign-exchange reserves while existing funds have been fuelled by gains from high oil prices.
However, a new survey of assets held by public investors shows that such wealth funds are still outpunched by more traditional players. Central banks are the biggest holders of assets, followed by public pension funds, with sovereign wealth funds coming third………………………………………..Full Article: Source