Are Risky Assets Investment Policies of the SWF Altered by the Crisis?

Being a distinct public tool for managing foreign currency reserves of many countries Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) used to choose safe investments such as public securities or corporate bonds. However, given the global change over the last decade, which is characterized by low bond yields, SWFs have been driven, just like all long-term investors, to diversify their investments and to include in their portfolios a broader array of assets often offering exceptional profits but raising the specter of high risk levels. The 2008 financial crisis has brought considerable losses for all investors having invested in this array of assets and SWFs are among them. Nevertheless SWFs are still invested in these risky assets because they remain return-attractive, especially after the turmoil caused by the sovereign debt crisis.