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Sovereign Wealth Funds: Their Investment Strategies and Performance

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  • Chhaochharia, Vidhi
  • Laeven, Luc

Abstract

Sovereign wealth funds have emerged as an important investor of global equity, attracting growing attention. Despite concerns that sovereign wealth fund investments may serve political objectives and be in conflict with national interests, little is known about the investment objectives and performance of sovereign wealth funds. We collect new data on foreign equity investments by sovereign wealth funds. We find that sovereign wealth funds largely invest to diversify away from industries at home but that they do so predominantly in countries that share the same culture, suggesting their investment rules are not entirely driven by profit maximizing objectives. Share prices of firms respond favorably when sovereign investment funds acquire stakes, in part because these investments often take place when firms are in financial distress. However, the long-run performance of equity investments by sovereign wealth funds tends to be poor, consistent with imperfect portfolio diversification and poor corporate governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Chhaochharia, Vidhi & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Their Investment Strategies and Performance," CEPR Discussion Papers 6959, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6959
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    Cited by:

    1. Mehrpouya, Afshin, 2015. "Instituting a transnational accountability regime: The case of Sovereign Wealth Funds and “GAPP”," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 15-36.
    2. Christopher Balding, 2009. "Who's Afraid of Sovereign Wealth Funds ?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 201-210.
    3. Kamiński, Tomasz, 2017. "Sovereign Wealth Fund investments in Europe as an instrument of Chinese energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 733-739.
    4. Sun, Jiayi & Demmler, Michael, 2009. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Ein Branchenüberblick," Bayreuth Working Papers on Finance, Accounting and Taxation (FAcT-Papers) 2009-02, University of Bayreuth, Chair of Finance and Banking.
    5. Di Wang & Quan Li, 2016. "Democracy, Veto Player, and Institutionalization of Sovereign Wealth Funds," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(3), pages 377-400, May.
    6. repec:eee:iburev:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:78-92 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Alhashel, Bader, 2015. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: A literature review," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-13.
    8. Torfinn Harding & Frederick Van der Ploeg, 2009. "Is Norway's Bird-in-Hand Stabilization Fund Prudent Enough? Fiscal Reactions to Hydrocarbon Windfalls and Graying Populations," CESifo Working Paper Series 2830, CESifo Group Munich.
    9. Kerry Liu, 2017. "Singapores Temasek Holdings Control Mechanisms and the Performance of the Firms Controlled by Temasek," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(2), pages 188-205, February.
    10. Maurizio Michael Habib & Sascha Bützer & Livio Stracca, 2016. "Global Exchange Rate Configurations: Do Oil Shocks Matter?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 64(3), pages 443-470, August.
    11. repec:eee:jebusi:v:91:y:2017:i:c:p:24-40 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Gabriel Enrique Alberola & José María Serena, 2009. "Sovereign external assets and the resilience of global imbalances," Working Papers 0834, Banco de España;Working Papers Homepage.
    13. Christopher Balding, 2009. "Qui a peur des fonds souverains ?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 215-227.

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    Keywords

    Asset allocation; Corporate governance; Sovereign wealth funds;

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

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