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THE FUTURE ROLE OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS

THE FUTURE ROLE OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS. SOVEREIGN WEALTH FOCUS Edinburgh Dialogue June 15, 2010 Edwin M. Truman Senior Fellow. INTRODUCTION. Sovereign Wealth Funds and the International Financial System 2. Updated SWF Scoreboard 3. The Santiago Principles

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THE FUTURE ROLE OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS

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  1. THE FUTURE ROLE OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS SOVEREIGN WEALTH FOCUS Edinburgh Dialogue June 15, 2010 Edwin M. Truman Senior Fellow

  2. INTRODUCTION • Sovereign Wealth Funds and the International Financial System 2. Updated SWF Scoreboard 3. The Santiago Principles 4. Conclusions: The Role of SWFs

  3. SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS and the INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM

  4. SWFs and the IFS (1) SWFs are pools of government-owned or government-controlled assets – often including international assets Five years ago, no one knew what a SWF was – the descriptive term had just been coined SWFs are diverse in their origins, objectives, and investment strategies

  5. SWFs and the IFS (2) Because of their diversity, it is inappropriate to generalize in great detail about the role of SWFs • They are governmental vehicles • They are part of the saving and investment process, transferring wealth from year to year or generation to generation • Their financial results are most important to their home countries • They should be responsible investors

  6. SWFs and the IFS (3) Two Tensions 1. Dramatic redistribution of international wealth 2. Much of the new wealth is controlled by governments Five Concerns 1.Mismanagement of investments and corruption 2. Pursuit of non-economic or economic-power objectives 3. Financial protectionism 4. Financial market instability 5.Conflicts of interest

  7. SWFs and the IFS (4) These tensions and concerns are shared by many other government investment vehicles: government-owned or government-controlled financial or non-financial institutions, pension funds, and foreign exchange reserves Including pension funds, SWFs are small with somewhat more than $6 trillion in total assets and $4 trillion in international assets But they quadrupled in size from 2002 to 2007, before setbacks in 2008-09, and they are back in the news

  8. SWFs and the IFS (5) Since 2007, SWFs have matured under the glare of international attention The rules of the game surrounding their activities have been codified in the Santiago Principles SWFs now can expect to be held to high standards of accountability and transparency, at home as well as abroad SWFs expect a degree of reciprocal responsibility from the countries in which they invest – another topic

  9. SWF SCOREBOARD

  10. SWF SCOREBOARD (1) In 2007, I developed a scoreboard for SWFs The scoreboard focuses on SWFs’ Structure, Governance, Accountability and Transparency, and Behavior The latest edition includes 33 elements grouped into these four categories for 53 funds of 37 countries • Based on systematic, regularly available, public information • At least one fund “scores” on each element

  11. 2009 SWF Scoreboard (2) No fund scores a perfect 100% Average is 59 Three broad groups of SWFs Pension SWFs in RED

  12. 2009 SWF Scoreboard (3) Compared with 2007 Average increase of 12% pts More gains in middle group Significant by GIC, Mubadala, Trinidad and Tobago, CIC, KIC & Alaska

  13. THE SANTIAGO PRINCIPLES

  14. The Santiago Principles (1) The International Working Group(IWG) of SWFs in September 2008 agreed and published a set of Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) for SWFs. • Contains 24 principleswith several sub-principles for a total of 30 items • It is a good piece of work – the IMF deserves credit for its facilitation role • The GAPP also has some positive features that I have incorporated into my 2009 Scoreboard • Essentially all the large SWFs participated

  15. The Santiago Principles (2) I have “scored” the GAPP The GAPP itself receives a score of 76 • This implies that full performance on the GAPP would put an SWF near the top of the middle group on the SWF Scoreboard • The biggest weaknesses are with respect to accountability and associated transparency • 25 of my 33 elements overlap with the 30 GAPP items • How do the 53 SWFs do on the intersection of the GAPP with my Scoreboard?

  16. The Santiago Principles (3) Correlation = 0.99 Average for IWG SWFs 67% Average “gain” is 3% pts versus total on Scoreboard Lots of room to improve

  17. The Santiago Principles (4) Middle group of funds “gains” more Distribution of gains among other groups is more varied A few declines The GAPP raises the bar

  18. The Santiago Principles (5) The IWG participants established the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) The IFSWF aims to promote the “application” of the Santiago Principles and interaction with recipient countriesto help ameliorate their concerns

  19. The Santiago Principles (6) BAD NEWS: (1) Potential for Regulatory Arbitrage (2) Membership in the IFSWF is static (3) Actions by host countries less than impressive GOOD NEWS: GIC: 9 (2007), 41 (2008), 65 (2009), 78 (GAAP) ADIA: 4 (2007), 11 (2009), 12 (GAAP-2009), 58 (March 2010), 71 (GAAP-2010)

  20. THE ROLE OF SWFs

  21. Conclusion SWFs are here to stay, they are part of the IFS landscape,and the world now is safer for them Accountability is the key, and reciprocal responsibility should guide policies We have seen that multilateralapproaches are preferable to unilateral remedies Three tests: 1. Implement and improve the Santiago Principles 2. Guard against Financial Protectionism 3. Worry about Regulatory Arbitrage

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