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Celebrating Female Leaders at Sovereign Investors

8th March, 2022

Today is International Women’s Day and, once again, we have studied in detail the female representation at State-Owned Investors, including SWFs and PPFs. Diversity and inclusion are becoming key parameters in ESG reporting, and funds are putting a lot of effort in recruiting and retaining people of all genders, races and backgrounds. We observe large disparities in the composition of the workforce of the world’s major SOIs

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Gulf SWFs Set for Oil Windfall as Ukraine Crisis Boosts Crude Prices

5th March, 2022

With crude prices soaring past US$100/b amid geopolitical risks generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf region are set to be flush with liquidity and free from fiscal pressures.

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Hong Kong's HKMA Boosts Domestic Strategic Investments to Claw Back Lost Competitiveness

3rd March, 2022

The Hong Kong authorities are pumping fresh funds into the territory’s sovereign investment fund to boost the tech sector at a time when it is experiencing a rapid brain drain.

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Sovereign Investors assess their Russian portfolios and options

2nd March, 2022

Sovereign Investors have different degrees of exposure to Russia and to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On the one hand, Middle Eastern funds have been increasing their allocation into the region for the past few years, and Asian countries continue to be some of Russia’s most important trading partners. On the other hand, European and, especially, North American, pensions had already been divesting positions due to geopolitical risk.

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Fund of the Month (Mar'22): California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)

1st March, 2022

CalSTRS is the world’s largest educator-only pension fund, and the world’s second largest state PPF, only behind its stablemate CalPERS. For the fiscal year 2020-21 the educator-only fund scored an impressive 27.2% return, which will improve its funding ratio by 300 bp. In the past few years, it has built a successful collaborative model and become a frequent partner of other SOIs. We had the immense pleasure of talking with Scott Chan, its Deputy CIO, about the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF Spreads its Wings: Aramco Equity Could Support Investment by New Offices

25th February, 2022

As it launches new offices in Hong Kong, London and New York, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking at paring back its US$90 billion stake in oil major Saudi Aramco, which was gifted to it by the government earlier this month, and potentially diversifying its private equity and real assets strategies.

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CDPQ Beats All Benchmarks, Delivering Best Return in More than a Decade

25th February, 2022

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has reported its best returns in more than a decade with a record C$78 billion (US$61 billion) of total asset growth to C$420 billion (US$328 billion).

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Oman Hones in on Strategic Direction for Sovereign Wealth

24th February, 2022

Oman is shaping up its sovereign wealth fund, which is encompassing the stabilization and strategic mandates of its predecessors.

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CalPERS Looks up to Canada with a New Canadian CIO and a Taking CPP’s Advice

22nd February, 2022

The world’s biggest sub-national public pension fund, the US$496 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), has finally appointed a new Chief Investment Officer, 18 months after Yu Ben Meng resigned amid allegations of conflicts of interest and costly investment misses.

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Canada Inc Builds Global Infrastructure Empire with Australia a Prime Target

22nd February, 2022

A US$7.7 billion blockbuster deal backed by four Canadian public pension funds to acquire Australia’s AusNet electricity network is the latest in a string of large infrastructure investments by Canada Inc in the country as they seek to ramp up exposure to low-risk, inflation-proof and stable growth real assets.

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On 1MDB, Goldman and how SWFs can go all wrong

18th February, 2022

This week in the federal courts of Brooklyn, former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng is facing as many as 30 years in prison for allegedly helping 1MDB to embezzle billions of Malaysian public funds. Tim Leissner, his former boss at the bank, testified yesterday to confirm that “greed and ambition” drove their involvement in the bribery and money laundering scheme. Goldman has already paid US$ 2.8 billion in fines.

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Sovereign Investors Help Bolster India's Green Energy Revolution

16th February, 2022

Sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds are playing a major role in India’s ambition to increase renewables to 50% of electricity generation by 2030.

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