Posted by AJ on February 2, 2008
Some recent articles of interest:
- Bond crisis: Sovereign funds hold their bets (Fortune)
- US Treasury’s Kimmitt stresses benefit of commercially-based SWFs (CNBC)
- OPEC rebuffs call for increase in output (Financial Times)
- IMF’s proposed sovereign wealth fund code ruffles feathers (Bretton Wood’s Project)
- China Investment-Fund Head Says Focus Is on ‘Portfolios’ (Wall Street Journal)
- State-led globalization (RGE Monitor)
- Libya Sovereign Wealth Fund to Shun U.S. (Bloomberg)
- Market convulsions will lead to the return of the state as a major economic force (The Independent)
- Japan’s Nukaga: No plan for sovereign wealth fund (Reuters)
- Ask the Author: A World Without Islam (Foreign Policy)
- The ‘war on terror’ licenses a new stupidity in geopolitics (Guardian Unlimited)
- A Risk Index for Sovereign Wealth Funds (Breaking Views)
- After Iraq: A report from the new Middle East—and a glimpse of its possible future (The Atlantic)
- If $28 Trillion Comes Knocking, Open the Door (Bloomberg)
- Can Emerging Markets Avert U.S. Chill? (Wall Street Journal)
- (Stephen) Roach Says He’s `Optimistic’ on Asian Growth (Bloomberg)
Stay up to date with latest sovereign wealth fund news and developments by subscribing to ExcessLiquidity.org’s RSS feed: http://sovereignwealthfunds.wordpress.com/feed/.
Posted in China, Links, Middle East, Oil, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Subprime crisis | Leave a Comment »
Posted by AJ on January 20, 2008
Posted in Abu Dhabi, China, Globalization, Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran, Links, Middle East, Oil, Saudi Arabia, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Subprime crisis, US politics | Comments Off
Posted by AJ on January 18, 2008
The Economist’s cover story this week is a feature on Sovereign Wealth Funds.
The story gives a good overview of many of the basics such as size of SWFs, how they came about, how they’ve evolved, where they’re headed, and the issues facing SWF investing. It also includes a relatively balanced discussion on the motives of SWFs, which isn’t surprising as The Economist is probably the most fair and balanced mainstream publication around.
One point that The Economist makes, that has been completely absent from the mainstream debate thus far, is that the fear of politicizing foreign investments cuts both ways. The SWFs must be cognizant of possible retaliatory actions, such as asset freezes and/or asset confiscations, that can be taken against their investments for things such as political disagreements or court rulings that hold SWFs responsible for the actions of their host country’s citizens. The Economist cites the example of Britain forcing the Kuwait Investment Authority to divest from part of its’ stake in BP in the 1980s because Margaret Thatcher, in the midst of privatizing national assets, ‘was in no mood to see so much of a national treasure owned by a foreign government’.
Politicians scrutinizing the recent flurry of SWF investments should take care to remember that these infusions are in effect rescue capital that their government’s would likely be on the hook for had SWFs been deterred from investing, and that their own future geopolitical motives should be held to the same standard they want to hold SWFs to.
The article concludes, correctly in my opinion, by saying the chief threat that SWFs pose is that of financial protectionism and that it’s in the best interests of all parties to get along:
The hope is that both host countries and sovereign-wealth funds see that their interest lies in building confidence. The hosts stand to benefit from the funds’ capital. Meanwhile the funds are ruled by the politics of the places where they invest. You are only sovereign at home; abroad, someone else wields the power.
Posted in Abu Dhabi, China, Dubai, Economist, Governemnt of Singapore Investment Corp, In the news, Kuwait, Libya, Oil, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Subprime crisis, Temasek | Leave a Comment »
Posted by AJ on January 13, 2008
Some recent stories of interest:
Posted in Abu Dhabi, Arabian peninsula, Canada, China, Democracy, Dubai, Globalization, Gulf Cooperation Council, Links, Oil, Sovereign Wealth Funds, US politics | Comments Off
Posted by AJ on January 6, 2008
Some recent stories of interest:
- Gulf investments to jump as economies grow: (Bloomberg)
- China Investment Corporation’s strategy is becoming clearer:(IHT)
- How much of a discount did Temasek get for the Merrill stake?: (DealBreaker)
- Eastern investors getting bargains on Western financial companies: (Seeking Alpha)
- Kuwait fund focusing on long-term opportunities: (MSNBC)
- Qatar’s real estate king: (Portfolio)
- Are oil prices heading down?: (CNBC)
- Interesting maps of the world adjusted for size of oil reserves and exports: (Middle East Strategy at Harvard)
- Gulf states, not wanting to jeopardize economic boom, no longer want to isolate Iran: (Christian Science Monitor)
Posted in China, Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran, Kuwait, Links, Oil, Qatar, Temasek | Comments Off
