Harnessing Sovereign Wealth Funds in Emerging Economies toward Sustainable Development

Harnessing Sovereign Wealth Funds in Emerging Economies toward Sustainable Development PDF

Author: Mona Mostafa El-Sholkamy

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-08-04

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 100919819X

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Sovereign Wealth Funds are government investment vehicles that have been present for decades. They are usually characterized by minimum information disclosure, however, this situation differed after worldwide events shed light on the role they possess to mitigate their downturns. The substantial economic influence they bring along due to their size and long term impact have recently created an uproar of debate that eventually led to the ratification of the Santiago Principles. The Principles set the stage for governing SWFs' operations and grant them more clarity. They also contribute to a more stable environment for cross-border investment flows. With the importance of SWFs, emerging economies also rose as key institutional investors; only this time they called for harnessing their funds towards sustainable development investment strategies. Despite pressuring need to improve transparency and governance structures of SWFs in EMs, the former are regarded as promising means for achieving the sustainable development goals.

Strategic Investment Funds

Strategic Investment Funds PDF

Author: Shanthi Divakaran

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2022-06-20

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1464818703

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Strategic investment funds (SIFs) have gained prominence over the past two decades as governments and other public sponsors globally have increasingly co-opted the investment fund model to further policy objectives. Since 2000, more than 30 SIFs have been formed at the national level, typically to boost economic growth through infrastructure or small and medium enterprise investment. In the current COVID-19 pandemic environment, governments have frequently turned to sovereign investment vehicles to address the economic effects of the pandemic, echoing the emergence of new SIFs in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. However, SIFs are not devoid of challenges, and the setup and operation of such funds can be fraught with risks, particularly in contexts of weaker governance, inadequate rule of law, and limited financial market regulation. The intent of 'Strategic Investment Funds: Establishment and Operations' is to provide guidance to practitioners and policy makers considering a SIF model where little widely available, practice-based experience has been documented and disseminated. The book provides a reference for policy makers who are creating or strengthening the operations of SIFs, particularly as governments examine the value of such funds as a policy instrument in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals PDF

Author: Julia Walker

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-08-27

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1119541840

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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Finance, Technology and Law Reform Achieving the SDGs requires a fundamental rethink from businesses and governments across the globe. To make the ambitious goals a reality, trillions of dollars need to be harnessed to mobilise finance and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Bringing together leaders from the World Bank, the financial and business sectors, the startup community and academia, this important, topically relevant volume explains what the SDGs are, how they came about and how they can be accelerated. Real-world case studies and authoritative insights address how to direct investment of existing financial resources and re-align the global financial system to reflect the SDGs. In depth chapters discuss how financial institutions, such as UBS Wealth Management, Manulife Asset Management and Moody’s Rating Agency are supporting the SDGs. The opportunities arising from Blockchain, Big Data, Digital Identity and cutting-edge FinTech and RegTech applications are explored, whilst the relevance of sustainable and transparent global supply chains is underscored. Significant attention is paid to law reform which can accelerate progress of the SDGs through SME Financing, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Lending and tax restructuring. To achieve the ‘World We Want’, much needs to be done. The recommendations contained within this book are critical for supporting a fundamental shift in thinking from business and governments around the world, and for building a more just and prosperous future for all.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Sovereign Wealth Funds PDF

Author: Cynthia A. Glassman

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2009-12

Total Pages: 59

ISBN-13: 1437911293

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Sovereign wealth funds (SWF) are government-controlled funds that seek to invest in other countries. With new funds being created and many growing rapidly, some see these funds providing valuable capital to world markets, but others are concerned that the funds are not transparent and could be used to further national goals and potentially harm the countries where they invest. This report analyzed: (1) the availability of publicly reported data from SWFs and others on their sizes and holdings internationally; and (2) the availability of publicly reported data from the U.S. gov¿t. and other sources on SWFs' U.S. investments. ¿Provides timely and useful contributions to the SWF debate.¿ Charts and tables.

The Palgrave Handbook of Sovereign Wealth Funds

The Palgrave Handbook of Sovereign Wealth Funds PDF

Author: Harold Kent Baker

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2024

Total Pages: 677

ISBN-13: 3031508211

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The Palgrave Handbook of Sovereign Wealth Funds provides a comprehensive, detailed analysis of these funds from a multidimensional perspective consisting of 33 chapters divided into seven sections. Section I provides background material about SWFs, providing a foundation for the remainder of the handbook. Section II examines various controversies, governance, and accountability topics involving SWFs. Section III discusses the political, legal, and tax aspects of SWFs. Section IV reviews numerous topics involving SWF management. Section V deals with SWFs' policies, preferences, and performance. Section VI provides descriptive analyses of SWFs based on country or region. It also offers a comparison of SWF similarities and differences across countries. Section VII concludes by examining special issues and the future of SWFs. This handbook spans the gamut from theoretical to practical while offering the right balance of detailed and user-friendly coverage. Discussion of relevant research permeates the handbook. Although other books are available on SWFs, few are as comprehensive or provide a multidimensional perspective from academics and practitioners. This handbook fills a gap by showing how SWFs are a growing and dynamic force in international finance.

Commodity Based Sovereign Wealth Funds

Commodity Based Sovereign Wealth Funds PDF

Author: Omosalewa Oluyinka Olawoye

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13:

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Natural resource producing countries struggle with issues about how to make use of their natural resources properly, allocate the funds from these resources and how to ensure continuity of these resources and their effects through the years. Commodity based sovereign wealth funds offer a channel through which these can be achieved. This dissertation studies these funds with respect to how they can be used to finance development in resource rich countries. Each chapter examines natural resource funded sovereign wealth funds called commodity based sovereign wealth funds (CBSWF), from different angles. This includes analyses of what these funds are, how they are currently used, the dangers in the current savings-‐like investment strategy and then proposes new real investment strategies that can encourage growth for these countries. The aim of these analyses is to suggest these funds as an alternative path towards growth and development in natural resource owning economies. To achieve this, we look at the pre-‐ and post-‐ CBSWF era of some CBSWF owning countries except for Iraq, Iran and Libya, which have recently experienced wars that have disrupted these economies and countries. Some of the countries being studied have recently adopted these funds or have not done anything with these funds. Thus, it is difficult to analyze the effects of these funds in these countries. We compare these countries’ Gross Development Product (GDP) and their Human Development Indicators (HDI). We analyze these data before and after these funds were adopted in these countries to see how effective these funds have been with respect to economic growth and development. We take a look at the failures of the current savings led investment strategy of some countries that have adopted these funds. Then we propose alternative real sector development financing that ensures sustainable growth in these countries. This is done in order to advocate for a real investment led growth in natural resource owning countries.

Development in Turbulent Times

Development in Turbulent Times PDF

Author: Paul Dobrescu

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-03-20

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 3030113612

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This open access book explores the most recent trends in the EU in terms of development, progress, and performance. Ten years after the 2008 economic crisis, and amidst a digital revolution that is intensifying the development race, the European Union, and especially Central and Eastern Europe, are ardently searching for their development priorities. Against this background, by relying on a cross-national perspective, the authors reflect upon the developmental challenges of the moment, such as sustainable development, reducing inequality, ensuring social cohesion, and driving the digital revolution. They particularly focus on the relation between the less-developed Eastern part of the EU and its more developed Western counterpart, and discuss the consequences of this development gap in detail. Lastly, the book presents a range of case studies from different areas of governance, such as economy and commerce, health services, education, migration and public opinion in order to investigate the trends most likely to impact the European Union's medium and long-term development.

Sovereign Wealth Funds, Capacity Building, Development, and Governance

Sovereign Wealth Funds, Capacity Building, Development, and Governance PDF

Author: Larry Catá Backer

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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Though operating in some form or another for over half a century, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) did not become an object of general attention until the early part of the 21st century when a combination of the need of developed states for investment and the growing acceptability of state investment in private markets abroad made them both threatening and convenient. Assured by the framework of the Santiago Principles most states now view SWFs as a useful multi-purpose sovereign investment vehicle. Yet over the last decade or so, SWFs appear to have developed the potential to become an important instrument in good governance and development, especially for resource rich and capacity poor developing states. Following the lead of Chile, and with the patronage of IFIs, these SWFs have begun to serve objectives as and with development banks both within and beyond their home state. This paper considers the capacity of SWFs to serve ends beyond mere fund value maximization as envisioned in the Santiago Principles. It explores the value of SWFs as a means of enhancing governance capacity in weaker states, its utility in enhancing development objectives, the emerging landscape of joint ventures among SWFs for development and their intersections with emerging infrastructure and development banks, and their importance in enhancing the operationalization of emerging international business and human rights standards not only within their own organizations but through their investment activities. A brief assessment of these trends ends the paper. Lastly, it develops a set of transformative changes in approaches to SWF instrumentality that SWFs, especially the smaller SWFs and those in developing states, might deploy in structuring and operating their SWFs within a globalized economic order. These strategies are meant to avoid the circular characteristics of current discussions grounded on premises of finance instrument silos and state based systems that no longer accord with the realities of, and fail to take advantage of the possibilities now offered through, global finance and can be grouped into the three transforming categories suggested in Section III: regionalization strategies; financial objectives strategies; governance strategies.

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review PDF

Author: Pedro Matos

Publisher: CFA Institute Research Foundation

Published: 2020-05-29

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 1944960988

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This survey examines the vibrant academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact (e.g., carbon emissions), social impact (e.g., employee satisfaction), and governance attributes (e.g., board structure). The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. One active area of research at present involves assessing portfolio risk exposure to climate change. This literature review focuses on institutional investors, which have grown in importance such that they have now become the largest holders of shares in public companies globally. Historically, institutional investors tended to concentrate their ESG efforts mostly on corporate governance (the “G” in ESG). These efforts included seeking to eliminate provisions that restrict shareholder rights and enhance managerial power, such as staggered boards, supermajority rules, golden parachutes, and poison pills. Highlights from this section: · There is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues and their materiality. · The ESG issue that gets the most attention from institutional investors is climate change, in particular their portfolio companies’ exposure to carbon risk and “stranded assets.” · Investors should be positioning themselves for increased regulation, with the regulatory agenda being more ambitious in the European Union than in the United States. Readers might come away from this survey skeptical about the potential for ESG investing to affect positive change. I prefer to characterize the current state of the literature as having a “healthy dose of skepticism,” with much more remaining to be explored. Here, I hope the reader comes away with a call to action. For the industry practitioner, I believe that the investment industry should strive to achieve positive societal goals. CFA Institute provides an exemplary case in its Future of Finance series (www.cfainstitute.org/research/future-finance). For the academic community, I suggest we ramp up research aimed at tackling some of the open questions around the pressing societal goals of ESG investing. I am optimistic that practitioners and academics will identify meaningful ways to better harness the power of global financial markets for addressing the pressing ESG issues facing our society.

The Paradox of Gender Equality and Economic Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Paradox of Gender Equality and Economic Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF

Author: Evelyn F. Wamboye

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-10-05

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 1009371894

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This Element highlights the idea that men and the society at large will benefit with women owning land. Land ownership by women improves their bargaining power and enhances their ability to survive outside unproductive power structure or gender relationships.