Sovereign Wealth Funds

The environmental impact of investment portfolios dominated headlines in 2021, but institutions will only increase their risk if they fail to address the social and governance principles of ESG as well, according to New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund.

Horizons Ventures to open family office in Singapore; AustralianSuper expands private equity investments over the next two years; CDPQ real estate arm Ivanhoe Cambridge to invest $1 billion in green digital infrastructure project in India with Bain Capital and Lodha Group; and more.

Volatile geopolitics, unpredictable monetary policy and generational differences in priorities means sovereign wealth funds will have their work cut out for them in the coming decades.

India’s Life Insurance Corp initial offering was oversubscribed 2.95 times, with participation from Norges Bank Investment Management, GIC, ADIA, and domestic funds; the Saudi Public Investment Fund will allow investments in Israeli companies for the first time with a $2 billion commitment in private-equity firm Affinity Partners; Hong Kong's Exchange Fund posts $7 billion quarterly loss; and more

GIC doesn't insist on the most up-to-date ESG data before investing in a target, as long as it has the potential to improve how it measures its risks in the area.

Sovereign and pension funds as well as private equity firms are looking at opportunities in data centres, telecom towers, and fibre networks in the region.

Norges Bank Investment Management, GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are among anchor investors in the initial public offering of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India; Future Fund warns of heightened risks as it reports -1.5% returns for Q1 2022; Five Japanese insurers invest $367.3 million in World Bank sustainable bond; and more.

The new report by IFSWF and State Street also found strong capital outflows from emerging markets and currencies close to Russia and Ukraine.

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC takes up 49.9% stake in Wee Hur’s student housing portfolio in Australia; China's Sunshine Insurance reportedly looking to list on HKEX in potentially the largest IPO of the year; New China Insurance issues a warning that its first-quarter profit might decline 70%; and Temasek sends stern warning on corporate governance to portfolio companies; and more

Indonesia's new sovereign wealth fund to invest $2.72 billion in toll roads; Singapore's MAS tightens tax criteria for family offices; Harvard University's endowment among risk-averse US institutional investors looking to reduce commitments in China; and more.

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC is leading a $240 million Series D funding round for open source technology company Grafana Labs; South Korea’s Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund is seeking managers for a $328 million real estate mandate; Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) posted HK$76.2 billion loss in the first quarter of 2022, and more.

Asian investors are ramping up climate strategy integration, a trend that NZ Super views as critical to long-term risk and returns.