Description:
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.Brief description: Patrick Bolton is the David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. He is the co-author of Contract Theory (MIT Press, 2005) and the co-editor of Credit Markets for the Poor (Russell Sage Foundation, 2005).
Review Quotes: This book is an excellent in-depth exploration of how the wealth of future generations can be put to use in addressing the critical issues of our time. Having gone from foe to friend in the global financial crisis, sovereign wealth funds now clearly have an important role to play in improving governance, preserving the planet, sustaining global financial stability, and ensuring long-term growth.--Erik Berglof, chief economist and special adviser to the president at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development