Episode 17-Charting Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds

Over the last two decades, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), particularly those from the Gulf, have emerged as significant economic players.

With Gulf SWFs holding nearly $4 trillion in assets, they wield considerable influence on both local and global economies, investing across sectors like finance, infrastructure, and even sports teams! But what hurdles do they encounter?

In our 17th episode, we're joined by Diego Lopez, Founder and Managing Director of Global SWF, an advisory firm specialising in SWFs and Public Pension Funds.

With over 18 years of experience advising sovereign wealth funds worldwide, Diego shares his insights.

In this episode, we spoke about several topics including:

• Defining what an SWF is
• Why they are important economic actors
• The current landscape of Gulf SWFs (strategies and challenges)

Intro theme song-'Tales of the Arabian Nights' composed by StudioKolomna via Pixabay

Chapters

• 0:50 Monologue intro
• 2:23 Diego's background
• 5:00 What is a sovereign wealth fund?
• 7:12 Why are SWFs important economic actors?
• 8:41 Ranking global SWFs
• 11:45 Looking at Gulf SWFs
• 12:52 Does Kuwait host the oldest SWF?
• 15:22 How different Gulf SWFs operate
• 18:06 Do Gulf SWFs invest in China or the US?
• 21:10 What assets are Gulf SWFs investing in?
• 24:36 Getting involved in venture capital?
• 26:53 Why are Gulf SWFs issuing debt?
• 28:56 New era for Saudi PIF
• 31:13 Abu Dhabi's approach
• 33:08 The presence of PIF in Saudi private sector
• 35:35 Soft power of Gulf SWFs
• 36:08 Why sports?
• 38:21 Getting in the EV sector
• 41:30 Transparency and governance
• 44:34 Sustainability and climate
• 47:55 Diego's upcoming projects
• 48:51 Contacting Diego