Chi ha paura dei fondi sovrani?

Kavaljit Singh su Voxeu.org analizza il diffuso (e allo stato ingiustificato) timore nei confronti dei fondi sovrani (soprattutto se di provenienza mediorientale o asiatica) giungendo alla conclusione che non vi è alcun dato che faccia propendere per la necessità di interventi statali volti a inalzare barriere al libero trasferimento di capitali.

"Much of the paranoia in Europe over sovereign wealth funds is based on false assumptions. To date, not a single incident of sovereign wealth funds destabilising financial markets or pursuing strategic policy objectives has come to public notice.

Since sovereign wealth funds have no explicit liabilities, they are patient investors with long-term investment horizons. Nor are sovereign wealth funds prone to withdrawals by investors that could force them to liquidate their market positions quickly.

The overwhelming majority of sovereign funds are passive investors. The bulk of their money is invested in fixed-income instruments such as government and agency bonds. The foreign direct investment component of their total investments is not even 1% of assets in 2007.

In rare cases where sovereign wealth funds undertake direct investments, they do not seek controlling interests. Even the direct investments in the ailing US and European banks during 2007-08 are minor in ownership with no special rights or board representation. These direct investments were not hostile in nature and involved convertible bonds which would be converted into equity stakes in the future. Further, the investments were made in a transparent manner with the approval of host country banking regulatory authorities.

It also needs to be emphasised that the investments in Western banks were made at time when they were facing a severe liquidity crisis. The stakes in UBS, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse were bought when their credit default swap (CDS) spreads were very high. The higher the CDS spread, the higher the perceived risk. By injecting billions of dollars into ailing banks, the sovereign wealth funds acted as counter-cyclical investors and enabled banks to continue their business. By and large, most sovereign wealth funds have suffered losses on their investments in the Western banks. The value of stakes of most sovereign wealth funds have plummeted with the spread of credit crisis."