Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global tops a ranking of 53 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in 37 countries by researcher Edwin M. Truman. The ranking evaluates the management and governance of funds including California’s CalPERS and Dutch ABP, which often are not classified as SWFs. This is the third year in a row that Truman ranks different sovereign wealth funds.
Truman’s scoreboard contains 33 elements in four categories: structure, governance, accountability and transparency, as well as behavioral rules. Clear rules and publicly available policies on issues such as investment strategy, fiscal treatment and the role of managers and governments dominate all categories. The scoreboard was partly inspired by the Santiago Principles for SWFs.
The Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), gets top scores for structure, governance, accountability and transparency. Truman notes a progression over the years in the general performance of sovereign wealth funds, including Norway’s.
The ranking can be found in Truman’s recently published study, Sovereign Wealth Funds: Threat or Salvation?, which examines the role of SWFs in the global economy and financial system. Excerpts from the study can be found on the website of the publisher, the Peterson Institute for International Economics. http://bookstore.piie.com/book-store/4983.html