Sovereign Wealth Funds and Long-Term Investing

This volume achieves, in uncompromising fashion, the fundamental objective of scholarly conferences, yet one not often accomplished this well. By assembling the most informed individuals to educate us about this development at the center of global economics and politics and by expressing their insights in such well-reasoned fashion, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Other Long-Term Investors makes us better prepared to think through a subject crucial to our nation's governance. The prospect that the global financial crisis could bring forth a better form of capitalism is an idea worthy of consideration. This book is another valuable addition to our public discourse from the editors and their many celebrated contributors. -- Lee C. Bollinger, president, Columbia University

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.