Sovereign Wealth Funds

Italy sovereign wealth fund gets market friendlier

27 May 2021

Dario Scannapieco will run state investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Under Fabrizio Palermo the $500 bln fund intervened boldly in M&A and hoovered up stakes in assets like Euronext. A change of the guard, under liberal Premier Mario Draghi, suggests a welcome recalibration.

North Sea oil IPOs had best take the plunge soon

24 May 2021

Ex-Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw is mulling a float that may see his Neptune Energy group valued at $10 bln. Equity markets are skittish and rival driller Wintershall Dea also wants to list. But question marks over gas demand make it riskier for owners CVC, Carlyle and CIC to wait.

Capital Calls: Endeavor’s Hollywood ending

29 Apr 2021

Concise views on global finance: The entertainment conglomerate’s IPO flipped the script on opening day.

Goldman’s 1MDB pain looks light next to AmBank’s

1 Mar 2021

The Malaysian lender is paying what equates to 30% of its market value for its part in the sovereign fund scandal, more than four times the Wall Street firm’s ratio. Domestic politics is at play, but AmBank’s fine is ominous for global banks yet to draw a line under the affair.

Indonesia builds sovereign fund with daring design

27 Nov 2020

Buyout firms and Gulf nations are being wooed to invest $15 bln in a government-backed mashup of Singaporean and Indian models. It’s an ambitious effort to finance President Joko Widodo’s development plans, but also faces limits on how much outside money will take the plunge.

Italian sovereign fund is a force to reckon with

20 Nov 2020

Fabrizio Palermo has turned 170-year-old CDP into a deal machine. Through his activism, Rome snagged stakes in Euronext and fintech star Nexi. If he gets another term as CEO, the urge to build champions won’t ebb. But the fund must prove it can keep politics at arm’s length.

Goldman’s clawback is small but pointy

22 Oct 2020

CEO David Solomon and others will forfeit $174 mln of bonus payments to resolve the 1MDB bribery scandal. But there’s a question mark over former COO Gary Cohn, who cashed in when he went into politics in 2017. That career change shouldn't shield anyone from past sins.

Corona Capital: Kazakhs, Norwegians, Airlines

15 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Kaspi gives ECM bankers something to smile about; Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has a so-so third quarter; and United Airlines has more bad news on jobs.

Corona Capital: Vaccine politics, Peloton

8 Sep 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Pharma firms like Merck and Pfizer are putting long-term profit first by promising to wait for full approvals for Covid-19 treatments; Peloton cycles towards more profit by cutting the price of its high-cost bikes.

Norway’s $1.1 trln fund is a bad toy for hedgies

24 Aug 2020

Nicolai Tangen’s appointment as boss of the gargantuan rainy-day fund hangs in the balance. Norwegians mostly worry about the big investor’s conflicts, but his likely approach is a larger concern. Active trading of so much money could pointlessly disrupt global markets.

Temasek MAC attack draws Singapore’s bailout line

12 Aug 2020

The sovereign fund escaped a $3 bln deal for rig-builder Keppel, citing a “material adverse change”. It avoids setting an unrealistic valuation that would complicate consolidation. Singapore’s offshore sector can get its fix without turning patient capital into reckless capital.

Corona Capital: Baseball, Gas cloud, Luxury goods

28 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Baseball’s Covid-19 cases put popular college sports competitions in jeopardy; a recovery in drilling for gas is bad news for the environment; Gucci and other luxury retailers finally embrace the digital revolution.

Corona Capital: Nursing homes, Airlines, Walgreens

9 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Nursing home investments will get a rethink; airline travelers get the upper hand; and Walgreens’ LBO heyday is in the past.

Corona Capital: Amazon, Car perks, College sports

29 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Companies are trying to bolster pocketbooks. Amazon makes extra payments to employees while car companies are offering major discounts. Plus: Under Armour ditches its UCLA deal.

Sovereign funds are having their rainy-day moment

23 Jun 2020

Temasek is stepping in to support Singapore Airlines and a marine group. It makes sense to shore up strategic assets at home when global valuations are high and cash is on hand. Peers from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to Malaysia’s Khazanah are likely to follow.

Corona Capital: Instacart stocks up

11 Jun 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Grocery-delivery firm and lockdown beneficiary Instacart tops up on capital while the getting is good.

Saudi’s $69 bln asset rejig collides with reality

11 May 2020

Giant Aramco is trying to cut the price of last year’s deal to buy 70% of chemicals firm SABIC. A discount would give Riyadh’s Public Investment Fund less cash to pivot Saudi’s economy away from oil. Budget concerns make helping the kingdom’s corporate cash cow more important.

Russia’s oil-and-virus airbag is robust but finite

24 Apr 2020

The double whammy of a crude price collapse and Covid-19 could cause a hefty budget deficit. Moscow’s $170 bln wealth fund can plug a hole worth 5% of GDP if need be. The issue is more the optics of raiding the piggy bank while looking relatively stingy on subsidising wages.

Saudis’ Warren Buffett impression looks skin-deep

9 Apr 2020

The kingdom’s wealth fund looks to be ditching diversification by snapping up stakes in big European oil groups. Unless MbS knows something that others don’t, buying stock on the open market is riskier than a classic Sage of Omaha swoop. Oil groups may also be cheap for a reason.

Pre-virus era rule book will lead investors astray

31 Mar 2020

The market rout means Norway’s wealth fund and other money managers are less exposed to stocks than their ideal purely because shares fell so much relative to bonds. Rectifying the imbalance would unleash equity buying of $500 bln or more. But a return to old norms will be risky.