Some countries may even launch their second fund

It is a true plebiscite. The creations of sovereign wealth funds soared over the past year, so that today, all major countries have such a financial institution. These national investors, support to maximize revenues from exports of raw materials or the reserves of a State, are undercover. The criticisms and concerns in their regard are substantially mitigated since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. They then moved from the status of opportunistic predators to investors in the last chance, including for the financial and banking sector. Better accepted, as providers of capital in times of budgetary and financial starvation, they are looking for investment opportunities arising from the crisis.

Since the mid-2000s, the creations of sovereign wealth funds are accelerated. Time put in parentheses with the crisis of 2007-2008, they are distributed again for two years. Emulation and imitation play, some countries copying existing funds of which they are trying to import and adapt the recipes for success. Thus, Bangladesh wants to create its funds on the model of GIC, one of the two players in Singapore. Goal Invest its reserves in a first step, of the order of $ 500 million. By looking up its fund to maximize its reserves and exchange revenues from exports of metals, the Peru looking, for its part, on the example of the Chile, who launched his vehicle for investment in 2006.

Generalized craze

All geographic areas and all countries are affected by this trend, even the more modest. Mauritius has announced that it would launch its Fund of 500 million and will, inter alia, to limit the volatility of the Mauritian Rupee to the dollar. In the Middle East, Israel could launch its fund while the Lebanon, he took the step this summer.

Africa is, in turn, to bridge economic backwardness by establishing its own domestic investors. Latest example to date, the Zimbabwe. In this project, not yet arrested, are revenues from diamonds from the country which would feed into a sovereign wealth Fund. Under the Council of the World Bank, Mozambique could also follow this example. The South Africa considers, for its part, the creation of an African Development Fund, fed by foreign exchange reserves and aimed, inter alia, to invest in infrastructure projects: a type of common investment in sovereign wealth funds.

Egypt, it refines the final details of its Fund, which will be in charge of the supervision of 150 large public enterprises of the country and the smooth running of the privatization of some of them. Some countries may even launch their second fund. Australia, the debate today revolves around the creation of a second sovereign Fund, support to develop the mineral wealth of the country. The Malaysia, also, could launch a new national investment vehicle, which will be for this time to invest the proceeds of sales of State holdings in the companies.

One of the major challenges for this "new wave" is to implement the governance and organization structures involving these funds from any political interference in their management and, in particular, the temptation to draw on their reserves of opportunistically. In some cases, this is not guaranteed. The sovereign wealth Fund is a strategic investor to the orders of his Government. The pursuit of profit is no longer the sole objective. This State investor status is, in any case, an advantage in a strategy such as the non-coté.