The book covers a wide range of topics of relevance to policymakers in countries that have sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and those that receive SWF investments. Renowned experts in the field have contributed chapters. The book is organized around four themes: (1) the role and macrofinancial linkages of SWFs, (2) institutional factors, (3) investment approaches and financial markets, and (4) the postcrisis outlook. The book also discusses the challenges facing sovereign wealth funds in the coming years, from an inside perspective on countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Norway, Russia, and New Zealand. Economics of Sovereign Wealth Funds will contribute to a further understanding of the nature, strategies and behavior of SWFs and the environment in which they operate, as their importance is likely to grow in the coming years.
This study examines the role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the global economy and financial system. Sovereign wealth funds are not a new phenomenon in international finance. Governments of a few countries have used similar entities to manage their international financial assets for several decades. Moreover, countries have always held international reserves, and government-owned entities have made cross-border investments for many years. Sovereign wealth funds or their equivalent pose profound issues for the countries that own them with respect to macroeconomic policy and the potential for corruption. They also raise issues for countries that receive SWF investments as well as for the international financial system as a whole because government ownership introduces potential political and economic power issues into the management of these cross-border assets. This study traces the origins of SWFs. It describes the issues raised by these large governmental holdings of cross-border assets for the countries that own them, for the host countries, and for the international financial system. The study lays out what is known about the 50-plus SWFs of various countries. Some countries have more than one such entity, and a sample of government-managed pension funds is included in this analysis because they raise most of the same basic policy issues. Using publicly available information that is provided on a systematic basis, the author has previously developed a "scoreboard" for these funds involving a number of elements grouped in four categories: structure, governance, transparency and accountability, and behavioral rules. The 2008 edition contributed to the development of a set of generally accepted principles and practices, the Santiago Principles, for SWFs by the International Working Group operating under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund. This publication presents an updated scoreboard for an expanded list of funds, evaluates the Santiago Principles, and examines current compliance with those principles. The study also examines the policies of recipient countries and the role of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) investment codes. Finally, the study discusses the evolving role of SWFs in the context of the global economic and financial crisis and its aftermath and will make recommendations for the policies of countries both managing such funds and those that expect to receive investments from them in the future.
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are state-owned investment funds with combined asset holdings that are fast approaching four trillion dollars. Recently emerging as a major force in global financial markets, SWFs have other distinctive features besides their state-owned status: they are mainly located in developing countries and are intimately tied to energy and commodities exports, and they carry virtually no liabilities and have little redemption risk, which allows them to take a longer-term investment outlook than most other institutional investors. Edited by a Nobel laureate, a respected academic at the Columbia Business School, and a longtime international banker and asset manager, this volume examines the specificities of SWFs in greater detail and discusses the implications of their growing presence for the world economy. Based on essays delivered in 2011 at a major conference on SWFs held at Columbia University, this volume discusses the objectives and performance of SWFs, as well as their benchmarks and governance. What are the opportunities for SWFs as long-term investments? How do they fulfill their socially responsible mission? And what role can SWFs play in fostering sustainable development and greater global financial stability? These are some of the crucial questions addressed in this one-of-a-kind volume.
The worldwide rise of sovereign wealth funds is emblematic of the ongoing transformation of nation-state economic prospects. Sovereign Wealth Funds maps the global footprints of these financial institutions, examining their governance and investment management, and issues of domestic and international legitimacy. Through a variety of case studies--from the China Investment Corporation to the funds of several Gulf states--the authors show that the forces propelling the adoption and development of sovereign wealth funds vary by country. The authors also show that many of these investment institutions have identifiable commonalities of form and function that match the core institutions of Western financial markets. The authors suggest that the international legitimacy of sovereign wealth funds is based on the degree to which their design and governance match Western expectations about investment management. Undercutting commonplace assumptions about the emerging world of the twenty-first century, the authors demonstrate that even small countries with large and globally oriented sovereign wealth funds are likely to play a significant role in international relations. Sovereign Wealth Funds considers how such financial organizations have altered not only the face of finance, but also the international geopolitical landscape.
Consider these phenomena: Savers at surplus countries are often penalized by astronomical consumer prices, while spenders at debtor countries enjoy bargain basement prices; Silicon Valley continues to be the global leader in R&D and innovation despite chaos in public finance; and; Surplus countries worry about holding potentially worthless IOUs issued by elected debtor governments. In this book, Professor Lee has tried to better understand sovereign wealth management in the context of saver and debtor countries, by presenting a unified model that can explain these observed phenomena. His attempt is a clear departure from traditional theories, in which these observations would be considered aberrations from standard assumptions. Although no model is perfect, this new framework can be useful to explain why, for example, it will be bad economic news for all if saver countries use their public surpluses to hoard food and fuel. This accessible book is built from a scholarly paper presented by Professor Lee at the venerable Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association.
Sovereign Wealth Funds have become increasingly powerful and influential investors. Their increasing role, and unusual character as both political and market actors, raise a number of issues with regard to finance, politics, regulation, and international business. This handbook draws together the growing but fragmented research on SWFs.
The paper discusses a model in which growth is a negative function of fiscal burden. Moreover, growth discontinuously switches from high to low as the fiscal burden reaches a critical level. The paper provides an overview of key elements of corporate bankruptcy codes and practice around the world that are relevant to the debate on sovereign debt restructuring. It also describes the broad trends in international financial integration for a sample of industrial countries and explains the cross-country and time-series variation in the size of international balance sheets.
While SWF investment objectives to some extent reflect inherent characteristics, notable differences in strategic asset allocation (SAA) exist even amongst SWFs of similar types. Even so, this paper shows that the global crisis may have changed SWF’s asset allocations in ways that may not be ideal or justified in all cases and that a review of investment objectives may be warranted. It also argues for regular macro-risk assessments for the sovereign, the continued importance of SWFs as a stabilizer in international capital markets, as well as the active role they could play in international regulatory reform.
The idea behind this publication is to assess the extent to which Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) could fulfill a mandate that would extend beyond the pursuit and obtainment of financial returns. This means to assess indeed the potential of these investment vehicles with regards to the adoption of responsible investment practices and to the direct or indirect financing of development either domestically or in third countries. The research has been developed during my PhD in Political Science – International Cooperation curricula – that I have recently completed at Sapienza University of Rome under the supervision of prof. Roberto Pasca di Magliano. In particular, the analysis is going to investigate into the characteristics that differentiate SWF from other large investors in the adoption of responsible investment guidelines by also presenting some SWF that have already undertaken that direction. My thanks go to the Roma Sapienza Foundation – International Cooperation – and to its Scientific Committee which has decided to reward my Phd dissertation with this publication.
This paper presents a broad overview of postwar analytical thinking on international macroeconomics, culminating in a more detailed discussion of recent progress. The paper reviews important empirical evidence that has inspired alternative modeling approaches, as well as theoretical and policy considerations behind developments in the field. The paper presents an empirical study of fiscal policy in countries with extreme monetary regimes. It also examines members of multilateral currency unions, dollarized countries that officially use the money of another country, and countries using currency boards.
