An annual report published on Saturday revealed that the assets held by sovereign wealth funds and government pension funds reached a record level of $31.9 trillion in 2021, driven by rising U.S. stock prices and oil prices. Investments peaked at multi-year highs, despite ongoing pandemic concerns.
The report on state-owned investment tools, prepared by the Global Sovereign Wealth Funds platform, indicated that the assets managed by sovereign wealth funds increased by 6% over the year to $10.5 trillion, while government pension funds surged 9% to $21.4 trillion.
The report also concluded that government investment institutions utilized more capital, both in the number of deals and their size, at the highest level in six years. Approximately $215.6 billion was spent, nearly half of which was by sovereign wealth funds.
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund took the lead, increasing its deal-making rate by 75% to $31.1 billion across 109 transactions, with one-third of the capital invested in real estate, particularly logistics.
Diego Lopez noted in the report that emerging markets lagged significantly, attracting only 23% of capital this year, marking one of the lowest recorded percentages in the past six years.
The report stated that investors continued to closely monitor China, especially in regard to the crackdown on Chinese tech companies. It concluded that "despite geopolitical tensions and regulatory concerns, most state-owned investment institutions remain optimistic about Chinese equities."
Overall, assets received support from the launch of four new sovereign wealth funds this year. The annual report from the platform analyzes data from 161 sovereign wealth funds and 275 government pension funds.
