The worldwide rise of sovereign wealth funds is emblematic of the ongoing transformation of nation-state economic prospects. Sovereign Wealth Funds maps the global footprints of these financial institutions, examining their governance and investment management, and issues of domestic and international legitimacy. Through a variety of case studies—from the China Investment Corporation to the funds of several Gulf states—the authors show that the forces propelling the adoption and development of sovereign wealth funds vary by country. The authors also show that many of these investment institutions have identifiable commonalities of form and function that match the core institutions of Western financial markets.

The authors suggest that the international legitimacy of sovereign wealth funds is based on the degree to which their design and governance match Western expectations about investment management. Undercutting commonplace assumptions about the emerging world of the twenty-first century, the authors demonstrate that even small countries with large and globally oriented sovereign wealth funds are likely to play a significant role in international relations.

Sovereign Wealth Funds considers how such financial organizations have altered not only the face of finance, but also the international geopolitical landscape.

Gordon L. Clark is professor and executive director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, and the Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor at Monash University. Adam D. Dixon is lecturer and university research fellow at the University of Bristol and visiting research associate at the University of Oxford. Ashby H. B. Monk is a research director at Stanford University and senior research associate at the University of Oxford.

[T]he book represents a genuinely excellent introduction to SWFs with respect to questions of legitimacy, governance and rationale. It is also extremely clearly organized and written; it is, in fact, a model of clean, precise and unadorned prose. Although the vast bulk of the book has previously been published elsewhere, in very similar form, in the shape of eight journal articles, it pulls together those existing materials in an impressively coherent, persuasive and ultimately very useful way.—Brett Christophers, Journal of Economic Geography

SWFs lie at the intersection of finance, politics, macroeconomics, international relations. They recently grew in size, influence and power. They are destined to continue to raise the attention of an ever growing public of scholars and practitioners for its multidimensional relevance. This book contributes to challenge and satisfy the curiosity of this growing public.—Valeria Miceli, Journal of Economics

[T]his book not only constitutes perhaps the most in-depth and insightful investigation of SWFs to date, but the book makes a contribution to broader debates over globalization and state economic intervention.—Daniel Haberly, Journal of Economic Geography

Endorsement:

In the last several decades, sovereign wealth funds have come to play a major role in international financial arrangements. Sovereign Wealth Funds lays out a masterful analysis of this subject. The book discusses three vital dimensions of these funds: their history and geography, their varying governance structures, and their deployment as strategic national resources. A clear grasp of these dimensions is essential for dealing with the rapidly shifting relations between finance, globalization, and the nation-state. This book is an outstanding scholarly contribution to understanding the emerging world of the twenty-first century.—Allen J. Scott, University of California, Los Angeles

Table of Contents:

List of Figures and Tables ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xix

1 Introduction 1

2 The Rise of Sovereign Wealth Funds 13