Key role for sovereign wealth funds

The nation's increasingly active sovereign wealth funds have diversified their investment and will become an important driver of long-term global economic growth, Tu Guangshao, vice-chairman and president of China Investment Corporation, said at a forum held in Shanghai on Saturday.

Given the increased uncertainty in open markets and the soaring value of assets, sovereign wealth funds have been showing more interest in alternative assets, Tu said at the Shanghai Finance Forum jointly held by the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and China Academy of Financial Research.

Looking globally, sovereign wealth funds have invested more in infrastructure, private equity funds, hedge funds and properties, he said. One best example is the $90-billion investment that SoftBank's Vision Fund received from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Vision Fund has been focusing on technology-related areas, which Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman believed would bring "huge benefit" to the PIF.