Large real estate developments like Manhattan West and vast portfolios of industrial properties dominate as some of the biggest sovereign wealth fund transactions in 2015. Despite lingering low oil prices, sovereign wealth funds’ interest in direct deals shows very little signs of abating.
Wealth funds backing these monstrous deals are the China Investment Corporation (CIC), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Surprisingly, two large technology plays made the top 10 list this year. A few widely reported deals such as ADIA and CIC buying interests in Autobahn Tank & Rast Holding Gmbh failed to make the final cut. Some notable financial advisors in these deals are UBS, Morgan Stanley and CBRE………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign funds had invested $1.9 trillion in equities and $900 billion in fixed income and short-term liquid assets at the end of 2014, according to Moody’s. They allocated just $400 billion to alternative investments including real estate, infrastructure, private equity and hedge funds, the ratings company said.
Real estate is particularly attractive after it returned an average of 14.1 percent last year for the funds, almost double their 7.4 percent target, according to a survey by Cornell University and advisory firm Hodes Weill & Associates published Dec. 2………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Russia’s finance ministry has proposed to extend the National Wealth Fund’s deposits in state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) for five years, the ministry’s document showed on Monday.
The ministry also suggested that the government should extend the Fund’s deposits in VEB at an interest rate of no less than 0.25 percent with a three-year grace period, the document published on the website for official drafts showed………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan is seeking to boost returns on a possible $93 billion in wealth funds, and some of real estate’s biggest private equity players could be the beneficiaries.
Kazakhstan’s $64 billion National Fund has struggled to achieve an average return of 2 percent annually for the past five years, and Central Asia’s largest energy exporter is looking to real estate and other alternative investments as the price of oil flirts with an 11-year low and returns from commodities slump to levels last seen in 1999………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange extended another $1 billion in quota capacity to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority on Dec. 25, lifting the sovereign wealth fund’s total under the state’s qualified foreign institutional investor program to $2.5 billion, according to SAFE’s latest monthly listing of QFII quotas Monday.
The Christmas top-up leaves ADIA on par with Norges Bank and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority as the QFII participants with the biggest quotas, $2.5 billion apiece………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Net foreign assets at Saudi Arabia’s central bank fell 1.9 percent in November from the previous month to 2.356 trillion riyals ($628 billion) as the government liquidated assets to cover a huge budget deficit caused by low oil prices.
Assets dropped 14.2 percent from a year earlier to their lowest level since October 2012, central bank data showed on Monday. They reached a record high of $737 billion in August last year before starting to shrink. The central bank acts as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and has born the brunt of financing the deficit, which totalled 367 billion riyals this year, according to a Finance Ministry statement on Monday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China Investment Corporation recently revealed that they own 2.1% of Semiconductor Manufacturing Int’l in a Form 13D/A disclosure that was filed with the SEC on Monday, December 28th. The investor owns 905,598,902 shares of the stock worth $4,691,002,312.
The reporting parties listed on the disclosure included China Investment Corporation, Bridge Hill Investments Limited and Country Hill Limited………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited recently revealed that they own a 12.5% stake in Tuniu Corp in a Schedule 13G/A disclosure that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, December 22nd. The investor owns 24,583,333 shares of the stock worth about $412,016,661.
The reporting parties listed on the disclosure included Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, Tembusu Capital Pte Ltd and Esta Investments Pte Ltd. The disclosure is available through EDGAR at this link………………………………………..Full Article: Source