Norway’s Government Pension Fund (US$300bil) apart from Government Investment Corp of Singapore (US$200bil), the China Investment Corp (US$200bil), and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (estimated US$500bil) are sovereign funds that have recently come under the spotlight, also Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional Bhd had US$26bil under management as at end-May, Dr Yeah Kim Leng, Rating Agency Malaysia Bhd chief economist told StarBiz, reported on August 25, 2007.
Dr Yeah Kim Leng told StarBiz that the number of hedge funds in Asia grew to more than 1,000 last year from 700 in 2000. Assets under management jumped 600% to over US$130bil, of which 40% was invested in Asia.
Dr Yeah Kim Leng feels that going forward, the entry of large sovereign funds would play a stabilizing role in Asian markets with their larger capital and longer term strategic investment outlook.
