SWFI – Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

Sunsuper Hires Former CEO of JANA Investment Advisors as CIO Brisbane-based Sunsuper, a superannuation fund with around A$ 34 billion in assets, named Ian Patrick as chief investment officer. Patrick replaces David Hartley who retired as CIO in August 2015. Patrick will be based in Sydney, Australia. Previously, Ian Patrick was CEO of JANA Investment […]

Norway’s SWF Gets Closer on Asia Square Tower in Singapore An investor group consisting of Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and Singapore’s biggest developer CapitaLand Ltd. were selected as the preferred bidder for a Singapore office tower called Asia Square Tower 1. BlackRock is the seller. Other bidders include ARA Asset Management Ltd. The […]

The SWFI research group tracks a myriad of statistics and figures including annual returns when it comes to institutional investors. This table shows a sample of endowments, pensions and sovereign wealth funds and their annual returns. We selected around 20 institutional investors in this preliminary study. Investment returns are in local currency. In addition, some […]

Oman’s SGRF Signs Cooperation Agreement with Oman Oil Company Oman’s State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) and state-owned Oman Oil Company have signed an agreement that will form a strategic cooperation partnership. The cooperation between SGRF and Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C will hone in on developing people skills within their organizations, backing small-to-medium businesses and knowledge […]

Fairfax Financial Completes Insurer Brit Purchase On July 8, 2015, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited completed its cash tender offer to shareholders of Brit PLC, a global specialty insurer and reinsurer. Fairfax has sold 29.9% of the Brit shares to Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS). Fairfax currently owns 70.1% of Brit and has the ability […]

QSuper CEO Rosemary Vilgan will retire effective October 23, 2015. Vilgan has been with the Brisbane-based superannuation fund for 27 years, 18 years as its CEO. QSuper will begin a formal search for the fund’s next CEO. QSuper is one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. QSuper has more than 540,000 members where it invests in […]

New Zealand-based Mint Asset Management was awarded a NZ$ 150 million active New Zealand equities mandate from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF). Mint Asset Management was formed in 2006 and is led by Rebecca Thomas. The other mandate in active New Zealand equities is with Devon Asset Management. The third active New Zealand equities […]

BMO Global Asset Management, part of BMO Financial Group, was appointed by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF), Accident Compensation Corporation and Government Superannuation Fund to provide responsible investment engagement services globally. Combined, the three crown institutions manage US$ 41 billion. BMO provides a global engagement service called reo® in which the services are applied […]

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations Invests in Kingdom Holdings Saudi Arabia has been making moves to open up its listed equity market to foreign investors. French public institutional investor Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, AXA and Orange SA invested US$ 150 million in Kingdom Holding Company (KHC). Furthermore, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Kingdom […]

AustralianSuper, Australia’s biggest superannuation fund, finalized its US$ 1.32 billion transaction to purchase a 49% interest in a portfolio of DC office properties controlled by Brookfield Property Partners. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

Two of Australia’s public institutional investor giants have ended a legal battle that started in 2013 with a multi-million settlement. Australia’s Future Fund will pay AustralianSuper A$ 7 million. This amount will go toward legal costs of AustralianSuper. The wealth fund maintains it acted appropriately at all times and by settling is not admitting any […]

State Street was selected as custodian and administrator for Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC). VFMC has A$ 50 billion in assets. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

AustralianSuper, Australia’s biggest superannuation fund, is nearing a close on a 49% stake in an office portfolio in the DC area from Brookfield Office Properties Inc. The transaction is yet to be completed. AustralianSuper could join the chorus of institutional investors such as Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and large Canadian pensions committing heaps of cash […]

Wynyard Precinct Holdings, the joint venture unit created by Singapore’s GIC Private Limited and Goodman Property Trust, bought an office tower from Flecther Building Ltd., a subsidiary of Fletcher Construction, for NZ$ 86.2 million. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

Arising from Chapter 11 bankruptcy nearly five years ago, General Growth Properties Inc., a major player in the realm of mall asset management, sold a 25% interest in Honolulu’s Ala Moana Center for US$ 1.37 billion to AustralianSuper, a massive superannuation institutional investor. The deal values Ala Moana Center at approximately US$ 5.5 billion. General […]

Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF), also known as KWSP, has allocated capital to Japanese logistics – following the path of several asset owners such as Singapore’s GIC Private Limited. KWSP acquired 5 properties from Mitsubishi Corporation for ¥14 billion (US$ 117.8 million). Mitsubishi Corporation will manage the property for KWSP under its Diamond Realty Management […]

The Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has raised capital commitments of US$ 528 million from four institutional investors. [ Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view content. ]

Lagarde Appoints Chief Administrative Officer for the IMF Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made notice of her intent to appoint Carla Grasso to chief administrative officer of the IMF. This is a new role. Grasso will start her new role on February 2, 2015. Grasso spent 14 years at Vale […]

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is attempting to limit multinational tax avoidance and offshore tax evasion by having created the base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS) project. A 15-point action plan on BEPS has been developed and tax reform could take effect on January 1, 2017. The political momentum for adopting all […]

Toronto-based Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) plans to augment its interest in Birmingham Airport (United Kingdom) to 48.25%. OTPP acquired a 19.25% stake in the airport from Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC), a superannuation funds manager. A long-term investor indeed, OTPP made its initial investment in the airport in 2001. The pension investor boosted its […]