A Sovereign Wealth Fund is a state-owned investment fund used to benefit the country’s economy and citizens.
Many countries, even some states in the United States, have one.
Sovereign Wealth Funds are essentially government-owned investment portfolios.
This is just a mechanism for countries to invest.
Rather than having capital parked in a country’s central bank, sovereign wealth funds invest it in global financial markets to make profits and benefit the economy.
A large sum of money and then invest it in stocks, bonds, real estate or other areas of potential growth.
They serve many purposes, such as stabilizing government revenue or saving for the future.
Funding comes from central bank reserves, monetary operations, privatizations, transfer payments, and natural resource export revenues.
Funds tend to value returns over liquidity and are therefore more risk-tolerant than traditional foreign exchange reserves.
Many countries that use Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have economies that are heavily dependent on one source of revenue.
For example, Norway and the Middle East rely heavily on oil revenue.
Oil funds such as Norway and the Gulf states aim to return profits while also diversifying the risks posed by oil prices to their economies
Investments through sovereign wealth funds are actually a way for these countries to diversify and reduce their reliance on a single source of income.
Sovereign wealth funds are one of the largest pools of capital in global financial markets.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, technically two separate funds, is the largest and best-known, with about $1.1 trillion in assets.
What is a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)?
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund or entity typically established in:
- Balance of payments surplus
- Official foreign currency business
- Profits from privatization
- Government Transfer Payment
- Fiscal surplus
- and/or income generated from resource exports
The definition of sovereign wealth funds does not include:
- Foreign exchange reserve assets held by monetary authorities for traditional balance of payments or monetary policy purposes
- State-owned enterprises in the traditional sense
- Government Employees Pension Fund (funded by employee/employer contributions)
- or assets managed for personal benefit
Sovereign Wealth Funds: Nature and Purpose
Each sovereign fund has its own unique reason for being created; in addition, all funds have their own objectives.
Here are some common SWF targets:
- Protect and stabilize the budget and economy from excessive revenue/export fluctuations
- Diversify from non-renewable commodity exports
- Earn higher returns than foreign exchange reserves
- Assist monetary authorities to dissipate excess liquidity
- Increase savings for future generations
- Funding social and economic development
- Sustainable long-term capital growth in target countries
- Political Strategy
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