Sovereign wealth funds to boost post-Covid-19 cooperation: KIC

Chief executives of sovereign wealth funds, including China Investment Corp. and Singapore’s GIC, and leading financial institutions have discussed responses to the coronavirus pandemic and agreed to expand cooperation to help the global economy recover, Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) said on April 28.

They held a video conference on April 27 at the request of Russian Direct Investment Fund which hosted the meeting.

“At the meeting, our focus was on revamping post-Covid-19 investment strategy. We also presented the examples of the South Korean government’s successful handling (of the coronavirus),” KIC’s chief executive Heenam Choi said in a statement.

“We shared the view that it is important for the investment institutions participating in the meeting to make efforts to help the global economy recover and agreed to expand cooperation in various aspects,” Choi added.

KIC did not specify what the various aspects meant.

Other participants in the video conference included Singapore’s Temasek, Abu Dhabi’s state investor Mubadala, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Heads of the US International Development Finance Corporation, French investment bank Bpifrance and Japan Bank for International Cooperation also joined the meeting.

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, and EQT Private Equity co-head Marcus Brennecke were among the participants and discussed their views on the global financial market, KIC said.

Meanwhile, KIC is unlikely to suffer a direct hit from the sharp fall in crude oil prices because it disposed of crude oil investments last year on the prospect of lower returns, according to investment banking sources.

Pension and retirement savings funds in South Korea have refrained from investing in crude oil and raw materials since they incurred heavy losses during the 2008 global financial crisis.