Today, Global SWF is pleased to announce the leaders of its 2025 assessment of best practices among Sovereign Investors, known as the GSR Scoreboard for Governance, Sustainability and Resilience.
Established in 2020, the annual study examines all publicly available information of the world’s 200 largest Sovereign Wealth and Public Pension Funds to fill out their scorecard, in a quantifiable and independent manner. All institutions were informed of their preliminary scores on May 10 and had five weeks to provide comments. Over 100 funds have now engaged and embraced the exercise to improve their operations.
The 2025 leading pack reflects the diversity of the universe of Sovereign Investors. Among the group, we can find pure pension plans, pension managers, commodity-related SWFs, and strategic funds – from both developed and emerging markets. There should not be excuses to be able to implement best practices.
The average score of funds has remained flat from 2024, at 61%. Sadly, we are seeing geopolitics and trade tensions taking over as key concerns of sovereign funds, some of which are turning more domestic, isolated and opaque. As a result, the average governance score decreased for the first time since 2020.
The GSR Scoreboard is dynamic and incorporates new elements as these topics evolve. Last year, we introduced three stricter sustainability questions, such as adherence to recognized frameworks and commitment to net zero goals. That automatically lowered the average sustainability score in 2024, but we have seen a slight recovery this year, as funds continue to pursue responsible investing.
Lastly, resilience scores have remained flat with several Sovereign Investors hiring business continuity teams and revising their risk frameworks and investment policies. Unfortunately, this is an industry prone to changes and political intervention, and 3 of the 200 funds assessed last year have ceased to exist.
The 2025 exercise shows the largest number of perfect scorers to date. The 100% score should not necessarily be the goal of all funds, as they all operate in the context of different frameworks and limitations set out by their respective governments. Yet, most institutions show a high degree of competition and ambition, aiming to rank higher every year, and we expect to have more perfect scorers year after year.
The full report, including methodology, results and the ranking table of all 200 Sovereign Investors, will be released on July 1 and presented at an in-person event in Singapore on July 8.
