Insights & Research
The weekly publication from the Institute on what is going on in the world of sovereign wealth funds and central banks.
In this paper we discuss the AI standards being established and review peer practice at major SWFs. We showcase in practice how the board can lead the process and ask the right question, both internally and to the external stewards of the asset entrusted under their oversight.
The weekly review of what is going on in the SWF World from the Institute of Sovereign Investors.
Submission to the Sustainable Markets Initiative - The Market Infrastructure Layer of Sovereign Infrastructure.
The AI Maturity Index scores how large public investors build, use and invest in AI: five pillars, 0 to 100, from the public record, with the reason and the source behind every number. The two cohorts rank separately on the same anchors, each weighted for the job it does: sovereign funds lean on research leadership and the investment process.
This paper examines the evolving role of the US dollar in the international monetary system through the lens of reserve manager behaviour. Publication: https://hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/en/fer-25-2-ove1-castelli
Geography of Capital, Output and People.
Sovereign funds remain part of the sovereign's wider financial condition even when operationally independent. This paper argues that the post-2008 governance settlement, while still essential, no longer captures the risk that now matters most: the systemic interaction of portfolio, fiscal, reserve, and external exposures under stress. It names this Systemic Sovereign Financial Risk (SSFR) and proposes Sovereign Resilience Management (SRM) as a diagnostic framework for addressing it.
An SMI Lighthouse Report prepared in support of the French G7, COP32 Ethiopia and UK G20 Presidencies, for African Union, EU, GCC, BRICS, ASEAN and Commonwealth leaders, institutional investors and strategic partners.
An SMI Lighthouse Report for Sovereigns, Institutional Investors & Development Partners.
An SMI Lighthouse Report prepared in collaboration with Africa Investor.
Resilience – A Sovereign Balance Sheet Problem For most of their history, sovereign-owned asset-holding entities treated resilience as insurance—a cost centre activated during tail events. Shocks were assumed discrete, bounded, and temporary. Balance-sheet architecture was therefore reactive—absorb impairment, wait for mean reversion, and resume.
AI, particularly LLMs, multi-modal foundation models, and agentic systems, is currently driving a structural shift in investment management not seen since the rise of electronic trading and systematic investing. Its effects are already measurable, and its trajectory is accelerating.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape how financial markets process information and allocate capital. Two recent papers from the Institute of Sovereign Investors offer an early practitioner framework for how institutions managing national savings and intergenerational wealth might navigate this shift.
Developed by the Investment Leaders Group within CISL’s Centre for Sustainable Finance, with contributions from Sovereign Investors, this guide takes a unique view by breaking down what needs to happen at each stage of the investment process for listed equity and debt portfolios, deploying tools and strategies already available in the market.
An African Union-aligned Institutional Investor-Public Partnership (IIPP) framework. Prepared for Heads of State, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds, Trustees, Investment Consultants, Philanthropies and Global Partners
G20, COP30 and African Union Heads of State, Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and Institutional Investors: A global blueprint to modernise risk measurement, correct structural mispricing, and scale resilient, investable markets across Africa and emerging economies.
Explores the economic, legal, and geopolitical consequences of using €260–300 billion in frozen Russian central bank reserves as collateral for a €140 billion loan to Ukraine. Analyses three endgame scenarios, the erosion of sovereign immunity doctrine, and how the mechanism repositions the euro from a neutral transactional currency into a rules-based reserve currency conditioning financial access on compliance with international law.
How global asset owners are re-weighting Africa in core portfolios (2026-2040). An Infrastructure framework for real-asset and infrastructure allocation.
This paper outlines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping the investment policy, strategies and operational efficiency of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), who manage $14 trillion in assets in an increasingly complex landscape.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has made several notable statements regarding stablecoins, emphasizing their potential to strengthen the US dollar's global dominance and their role in the future of digital finance. He has also highlighted the projected growth of the stablecoin market, potentially exceeding $2 trillion by 2028.
United States leads the global league table due to its large public pension funds, while it may need more allocation to the new SWF. Both China and United States each have more sovereign investor assets than the combined assets of 172 smaller countries.
Denmark should set up a SWF by expanding the debt management framework and on-lending program to carve out a debt-financed SWF with a clear macroeconomic objective and long-term investment horizon. This could create both new sovereign wealth, ensure fiscal resilience and intergenerational equity, while also assisting in funding climate change ambitions and innovations.
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