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Friends or foes? The stock price impact of sovereign wealth fund investments and the price of keeping secrets

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  • Jason Kotter
  • Ugur Lel

Abstract

This paper examines the stock price impact of 163 announcements of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investments. We document an average positive risk-adjusted return of 2.1 percent for target firms during two days surrounding SWF acquisition announcements. The announcement effect is both statistically and economically significant. A multivariate analysis shows that the degree of transparency of SWF activities is an important determinant of the market reaction, and both the SWF and the existing shareholders of the target firm benefit from improved SWF disclosure. In addition, target firms' profitability, growth, and governance do not change significantly in the three-year period following the SWF investment relative to a control sample. These results are robust to a battery of tests. Overall, our findings suggest that SWF investments convey a positive signal to market participants about the target firm, increased SWF transparency is enjoyed by both the SWF and existing shareholders, and SWFs are passive investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Kotter & Ugur Lel, 2008. "Friends or foes? The stock price impact of sovereign wealth fund investments and the price of keeping secrets," International Finance Discussion Papers 940, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:940
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    Cited by:

    1. Karolyi, G. Andrew & Liao, Rose C., 2017. "State capitalism's global reach: Evidence from foreign acquisitions by state-owned companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 367-391.
    2. Chahir Zaki & Raimundo Soto & Ibrahim El Badawi, 2018. "Sovereign Wealth Funds, Cross-Border Investment Bias and Institutions: The Case of Arab Countries2," Working Papers 1173, Economic Research Forum, revised 25 Mar 2008.
    3. Bao Ngoc Dinh, 2011. "The impact of Sovereign Wealth Fund investments on the performance of listed companies," Post-Print halshs-00658489, HAL.
    4. Steffen Kern, 2008. "Control Mechanisms for Sovereign Wealth Funds in Selected Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 6(04), pages 41-48, December.
    5. Luisa ANDERLONI & Daniela VANDONE, 2012. "Sovereign Wealth Fund Investments in the Banking Industry," Departmental Working Papers 2012-24, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    6. repec:ces:ifodic:v:6:y:2008:i:4:p:14567217 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Blancheton, Bertrand & Jégourel, Yves, 2009. "Les fonds souverains : un nouveau mode de régulation du capitalisme financier ?," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 5.
    8. Christopher Balding, 2009. "Who's Afraid of Sovereign Wealth Funds ?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 201-210.
    9. Joshua Aizenman & Reuven Glick, 2009. "Sovereign Wealth Funds: Stylized Facts about their Determinants and Governance," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 351-386, December.
    10. Steffen Kern, 2008. "Control Mechanisms for Sovereign Wealth Funds in Selected Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 6(4), pages 41-48, December.
    11. Hélène Raymond, 2009. "The effect of Sovereign Wealth Funds’ investments on stock markets," Working Papers hal-04140850, HAL.
    12. Mehmet Caner & Thomas Grenes, 2009. "Le fonds souverain norvégien," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 125-131.
    13. David Kemme, 2012. "Soverign Wealth Fund Issues and the National Fund(s) of Kazakhstan," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp1036, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    14. Urban Dariusz, 2017. "The Color of Government Money. Do Investors Differently Value the Investment of Sovereign Wealth Funds?," Financial Internet Quarterly (formerly e-Finanse), Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 25-34, November.
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    16. Raymond, H., 2008. "The effect of Sovereign Wealth Funds’ involvement on stock markets," Occasional papers 7, Banque de France.
    17. Xu Yi-chong, 2012. "Sovereign wealth funds: the good, the bad or the ugly?," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 193-207.
    18. Kubo, Katsuyuki & Phan, Huu Viet, 2019. "State ownership, sovereign wealth fund and their effects on firm performance: Empirical evidence from Vietnam," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    19. Izabela Pruchnicka-Grabias, 2010. "Sovereign Wealth Funds - The Activity And Its Consequences For The Global Economy," Interdisciplinary Management Research, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics, Croatia, vol. 6, pages 510-522.
    20. Bertrand BLANCHETON & Yves JEGOUREL, 2009. "Sovereign wealth funds: toward a new state capitalism? (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2009-04, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    21. Christopher Balding, 2009. "Qui a peur des fonds souverains ?," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 215-227.
    22. Steffen Kern, 2009. "Sovereign Wealth Funds : New Economic Realities and the Political Responses," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 255-269.
    23. Jerome Couturier & Davide Sola & Paul Stonham, 2009. "Are sovereign wealth funds “white knights”?," Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(3), pages 142-151, October.
    24. Steffen Kern, 2009. "Fonds souverains : nouvelles réalités économiques et réponses politiques," Revue d'Économie Financière, Programme National Persée, vol. 9(1), pages 275-289.

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