All you need to become a sovereign-wealth-fund expert
The term “sovereign wealth fund” has only been in existence since 2005. In the 14 years since, their number has gone through the ceiling and their total assets have quadrupled. In short, there’s a lot to keep track of. Given some SWFs’ penchants for secrecy, that’s not always an easy task—here’s where to start.
Books
- For detailed backgrounders on the subject, check out Sovereign Wealth Funds: Legitimacy, Governance, and Global Power by Gordon Clark, Adam Dixon, and Ashby Monk, and Sovereign Wealth Funds: The New Intersection of Money and Politics by Christopher Balding.
- Citizens’ Wealth: Why (and How) Sovereign Funds Should be Managed by the People for the People by Angela Cummine is a lively mixture of analysis and policy prescription on SWFs and their potential use in creating stronger and fairer societies.
- The New Frontiers of Sovereign Investment covers the history and future potential of SWFs, with a series of chapters by academics and people in the field.
Institutions
- The Sovereign Investor Institute and Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) are both fonts of great data and analysis—if you’re willing to open your wallet. SWFI (pronounced ‘swoofy’ by those in the know) gives out some data for free and a handy daily email that follows all the big deals.
- SovereigNet at Tufts University publishes research, organizes events and publicizes other experts’ papers.
Papers and reports
- IE Sovereign Wealth Research publishes a deeply researched annual report on the sector. Here’s the 2017 edition; the 2018 version will launch later this month.
- Invesco’s annual study has very detailed data.
- Preqin publishes a yearly survey, which is available for a breezy $2,510.
- Finally, most SWFs publish annual reports on their websites, and the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds collates all its members’ reports here. Some are full of amazing data; others not so much.
People
The SWF world is not exactly all over Twitter, but some leading experts are:
- Ashby Monk, executive director of Stanford University’s Global Projects Center.
- Victoria Barbary, former director of the Sovereign Wealth Center in London and now director of strategy and comms at IFSWF. A font of knowledge.
- Javier Capapé, director of IE Sovereign Wealth Research.
I’ll also be keeping my eye on things @MddeH.