| Popis: |
Commodity (primarily oil) funds are facing today the most severe adverse shock of their history. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the crisis in oil-rich nations, already hit by low oil prices and declining hydrocarbon revenues. Governments of all stripes are tapping sovereign wealth and foreign exchange reserves to stabilize their budgets and mitigate the effects of the ensuing recession. The future of SWFs is at risk. In this article, we provide anecdotal evidence about SWFs’ behavior during the COVID-19 crisis. We subsequently quantify, using updated national official statistics, the economic and financial resilience of the main resource-producing nations and link it to possible future trends in sovereign investment. We conclude that the COVID-19 crisis may induce profound changes in the industry. In the future, we expect SWFs to become more leveraged, to favor domestic over overseas investment, and to focus on broader economic and social impact than purely financial returns. |
