Azerbaijan’s state oil fund SOFAZ has allocated more than $118 million for youth education abroad. SOFAZ, an entity that accumulates and manages Azerbaijan’s oil and gas revenues, was established in 1999 with assets worth $271 million.
As of July 1, SOFAZ has allocated about 93 million manats as part of the State Program on education of Azerbaijani youth abroad in 2007-2015, SOFAZ reports………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund said Monday it had acquired a 47.5% stake in an office property at One Beacon Street in Boston, in a joint venture with U.S. life insurer MetLife Inc. Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s $891 billion fund, usually referred to as the “oil fund,” said it had paid $122.3 million for the stake, and said the property was valued at $561.5 million. The transaction included $304 million of existing debt, NBIM said.
The 1 million-square-feet property consists of nearly 100% office space, with a small retail component housing a bank and a lunchtime diner, NBIM said, adding that MetLife will manage the property………………………………………..Full Article: Source

MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest U.S. life insurer, added another Boston office tower to its real estate partnership with Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund, expanding their joint venture to about $2.4 billion.
MetLife and Norges Bank Investment Management acquired the One Beacon Street building for about $561 million, the New York-based company said today in a statement. The insurer will own 52.5 percent of the 34-story tower, with Norges Bank controlling the rest………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Kazakhstan’s National Investment Corporation (NIC), a sovereign wealth fund managed by the country’s central bank, is looking to appoint consultants to help it pick external investment managers to manage around $110 billion of the country’s wealth.
The NIC manages Kazakhstan’s foreign reserves and says it is aiming to become one of the world’s largest institutional investors in alternative assets. The consulting mandate will also cover the $80 billion Kazakh National Fund, a domestic stabilisation fund, and $30 billion in foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Aberdeen Asset Management’s assets dropped in the second quarter of 2014, following a substantial withdrawal by a major client. In the three months to the end of June, the Asian Sovereign Wealth Fund withdrew £4bn from Asia Pacific and global equities mandates.
The withdrawal took total net outflows from Aberdeen’s assets in the period to £5.5bn, with money flowing out of equity, fixed income and Aberdeen Solutions products………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Exchange Fund remains the last line of defense for financial stability and should not be used to support social policies or adopt a more aggressive investment strategy, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief said. “It is clearly not appropriate for the fund to adopt an overly aggressive investment approach, nor is it appropriate to directly compare the fund with other investment funds or sovereign wealth funds,” Norman Chan Tak-lam said yesterday in his column on the authority’s website.
He said the fund must remain highly liquid “and thus should not concentrate on highly volatile assets such as equities.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings exited its entire stake in New China Life Insurance (NCI) last week for a total of proceeds of US$276 million, according to media reports.
It sold 78 million shares at HK$27.45 per share, representing a 5.5% discount to the Hong Kong-listed firm’s closing price last Friday at HK$29.05. Goldman Sachs and UBS AG managed the selldown………………………………………..Full Article: Source