Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. Somewhat stronger private property rights, slightly-loosened regulation and friendlier foreign investment laws have increased the flows of foreign institutional investor capital. Since 2013, direct investments by sovereign funds and public pensions into India have ramped up, according to time-series data from SWFI.
This data is adding in both sovereign wealth funds and large public pensions (mostly Canadian public investors). In 2006, just US$ 101 million was directly invested into India by public institutional investors. Most capital flowing in before the global financial crisis were private equity investors. In 2012, US$ 1.38 billion was directly invested into India by public institutional investors. By 2015, the number amounted to US$ 5.44 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds liquidated or cancelled investments worth about 7 percent of their total assets last year, according to a study released on Monday by asset manager Invesco, in a sign of pressure from low oil prices.
State budgets in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and other oil exporters have fallen into deficit because of shrunken oil revenues, forcing governments to eat into their savings. “Outflows from Middle East funds are not surprising, given the volatility we have seen in the oil markets. However, sovereign investor confidence remains high despite the challenging funding environment and difficult market conditions,” said Alex Millar, head of institutional sales for the Middle East and Africa at Invesco………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Libya’s sovereign-wealth fund, in a long-awaited trial that started Monday, alleged Goldman Sachs Group Inc. took advantage of its lack of financial sophistication to draw it into losing trades. Emails in the case show Goldman executives saying that the Libyan fund had little experience in finance. “They are very unsophisticated—and anyone could ‘rape’ them,” one executive wrote in 2008.
In another internal email exchange, a Goldman executive wrote to a colleague that “you just delivered a pitch on structured leveraged loans to someone who lives in the middle of the desert with his camels.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A Goldman Sachs banker described officials at Libya’s sovereign wealth fund as so unsophisticated that “anyone could ‘rape’ them”, it was claimed in the London’s High Court, on the first day of a $1bn legal case being brought against the financial group.
The court on Monday heard claims by the Libyan Investment Authority that Goldman had exploited the wealth fund’s limited experience in 2008, to force it into risky and ultimately lossmaking derivative trades………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has approached banks for a loan of as much as US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) to finance its acquisition of BlackRock’s Asia Square Tower 1, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The sovereign wealth fund has held preliminary talks with banks to borrow between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Talks with potential lenders are at an early stage and QIA has not finalised the timeline for the borrowing, they said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has told French authorities it wants to sell its stake in nuclear group Areva, La Lettre de l’Expansion reported on Monday.
KIA is Areva’s second-biggest shareholder with a 4.82 percent stake, according to ThomsonReuters data. The newsletter said the Kuwaiti fund had complained that its investment in Areva, which is majority owned by the French government, was made based on incorrect company accounts………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Equities desks are homing in on a potential block trade of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s stake in Transurban Group. Street Talk understands the sizeable holding, although less than the substantial shareholder threshold, has piqued the interest of several banks particularly after a 13.5 per cent rally in Transurban stock this year.
ADIA is no stranger to blocks but bankers know it’s an uphill battle pitching to the sovereign wealth fund. Sometimes they run a trade through an ECM team - other times they go straight to the sales trader who they think will get the job done………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Norwegian oil fund has drawn up plans to protect its assets from extreme political events such as military invasion or coup. According to the Financial Times, the Norges Bank Investment Management said the oil fund had looked at various scenarios which represent a threat to the fund’s holdings.
It is understood the fun is helping other state-run entities to draw up protective policies to safeguard their assets in case of a similar threat. Sovereign wealth funds are looking to protect their assets following the outbreak of civil war in Libya, which led to questions over who is the rightful guardian of the country’s $66billion sovereign wealth fund………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The latest fund-raising comes with China’s top ride-hailing company locked in a struggle to fend off its global rival’s march into China. Uber raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in new resources earlier this month.
Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing said on Monday it had received an investment of about $600 million from China Life Insurance Co Ltd, boosting resources to fund its battle with Uber just a month after it raised $1 billion from Apple Inc………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Despite the volatility of global financial markets this year and a steady decline in investment returns, confidence among the world’s sovereign wealth funds remains high, a survey by Invesco has found.
New investment is also holding up, according to Invesco’s fourth annual study into global sovereign asset management which covers funds with over $8trn of assets (£5.6trn, €7.1trn). The survey found that for the sovereign investors interviewed by Invesco, the average actual 2015 annual portfolio returns fell to 4.1% from an average of 6.6% over the past five years………………………………………..Full Article: Source