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A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity funds or hedge funds. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally. Most SWFs are funded by revenues from commodity exports or from foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank.
Some sovereign wealth funds may be held by a central bank, which accumulates the funds in the course of its management of a nation's banking system; this type of fund is usually of major economic and fiscal importance. Other sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings that are invested by various entities for investment return, and that may not have a significant role in fiscal management.
The accumulated funds may have their origin in, or may represent, foreign currency deposits, gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions held by central banks and monetary authorities, along with other national assets such as pension investments, oil funds, or other industrial and financial holdings. These are assets of the sovereign nations that are typically held in domestic and different reserve currencies (such as the dollar, euro, pound, and yen). Such investment management entities may be set up as official investment companies, state pension funds, or sovereign funds, among others.
There have been attempts to distinguish funds held by sovereign entities from foreign-exchange reserves held by central banks. Sovereign wealth funds can be characterized as maximizing long-term return, with foreign exchange reserves serving short-term "currency stabilization", and liquidity management. Many central banks in recent years possess reserves massively in excess of needs for liquidity or foreign exchange management. Moreover, it is widely believed most have diversified hugely into assets other than short-term, highly liquid monetary ones, though almost no data is publicly available to back up this assertion.
🔗 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund#Largest_sovereign_wealth_funds See also: List of sovereign wealth funds by country and List of countries by foreign-exchange reserves
| Country or region | Abbrev. | Fund name | Assets 32 (billions US$) |
Inception | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Norway |
GPF-G | Government Pension Fund Global | 2,044 33 | 1990 | Oil & Gas |
 China |
CIC | China Investment Corporation | 1,332 34 | 2007 | Non-commodity |
 United Arab Emirates |
ADIA | Abu Dhabi Investment Authority | 1,128 35 | 1976 | Oil & Gas |
| China |
SAFE | SAFE Investment Company | 1,090 36 | 1997 36 | Non-commodity |
 Kuwait |
KIA | Kuwait Investment Authority | 1,029 37 | 1953 | Oil & Gas |
 Saudi Arabia |
PIF | Public Investment Fund | 925 38 | 1971 | Oil & Gas |
 Singapore |
GIC | GIC Private Limited | 800 39 | 1981 | Non-commodity |
 Qatar |
QIA | Qatar Investment Authority | 557 40 | 2005 | Oil & Gas |
 Hong Kong |
HKMA | Exchange Fund (Hong Kong) | 525 41 | 1935 42 | Non-commodity |
| China |
NSSF | National Council for Social Security Fund | 414 43 | 2000 | Non-commodity |
| Singapore |
CPF | Central Provident Fund | 436 44 | 1955 | Pension fund |
| United Arab Emirates |
ICD | Investment Corporation of Dubai | 341 35 | 2006 | Oil & Gas |
 Turkey |
TWF | Turkey Wealth Fund | 360 45 | 2017 | Non-commodity |
| United Arab Emirates |
PJSC | Mubadala Investment Company | 302 46 | 2002 | Oil & Gas |
| Singapore |
TH | Temasek Holdings | 287 47 48 | 1974 | Non-commodity |
 Australia |
FF | Future Fund | 158 49 | 2006 | Non-commodity |
| United Arab Emirates |
ADQ | Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company | 196 50 | 2018 | Non-commodity |
 South Korea |
KIC | Korea Investment Corporation | 189 51 | 2005 | Non-commodity |
 Iran |
NDFI | National Development Fund | 156 52 | 2011 | Oil & Gas |
 Russia |
NWF | Russian National Wealth Fund | 133 53 54 | 2008 | Oil & Gas |
 Canada |
AIMCo | Alberta Investment Management Corporation | 123 55 | 2008 | Non-commodity |
| United Arab Emirates |
EIA | Emirates Investment Authority | 87 56 | 2007 | Oil & Gas |