From Global SWF: "2026 Asia Playbook"

 

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Happy to pass along this quite interesting Report from our friends over at Global SWF:

We are delighted to release our 2026 Asia Playbook, i.e., our annual update on 36 territories across the Asian continent, and their respective state-owned investors. The document sheds a light on the latest developments of 36 Central Banks, 48 SWFs and 66 Pension Funds – as well as other major entities key for those public finance systems, including national oil companies, airlines, stock exchanges, royal family offices, and investment promotion agencies. Some of the key takeaways of the 54-page report include:

--Asian SWFs grew tremendously in 2025 and now manage 39% of the world’s total. Together with CBs and PPFs, their assets stand at US$ 22.5 trillion and could reach US$ 27.1 trillion by 2030.

--China alone, including Hong Kong and Macau, has amassed a balance sheet of US$ 8.6 trillion, larger than all the Middle Eastern State-Owned Investors combined.

--The Singaporean duo – GIC and Temasek – dominates the regional dealmaking and completed 77% of all investments coming out of Asian investors in the past 6 years. The most popular destinations of that capital were the US, India, the UK, China including Hong Kong, and Australia.

--Sadly, such impressive growth and deal activity is poised to slow down because of the energy crisis. We expect SWFs will be used differently, according to their mandate and portfolio: stabilization funds may be withdrawn, strategic funds may be “invited” to bail out certain industries or assets, and opportunistic funds may look for bargains.

The report includes a special feature and interview with Mr. Nurlan Zhakupov, the Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna, which is among the world’s top 25 SWFs with US$ 89 billion AuM.

Attached is an Executive Summary of the report, and the full document can be accessed by our subscribers at https://globalswf.com/reports/2026asia. We will host an in-person presentation next Thursday 9 April in Singapore. If you are a delegate of a CB/SWF/PPF and are interested in attending, please let us know.

Of particular interest may be this:

 Since February 28, the US and Israel have been bombing Iran, and Iran has responded by launching over 5,400 missiles and drones – most to the Gulf nations – and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, creating a massive and global energy crisis. This will likely have a large impact on Asian economies, most of which are heavily dependent on foreign oil and gas. In this context, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) may come, once again, to the rescue of economies, industries and assets around the world. Using our definition of SWF, which is broad and inclusive by design, Asia (excluding the Middle East) is home to 48 such vehicles, collectively managing US$ 6.1 trillion as of April 2026. These include stabilization funds like Azerbaijan’s SOFAZ, savings funds like South Korea’s KIC, strategic-catalyzing funds like India’s NIIF, and strategic-umbrella funds like Indonesia’s Danantara. (Executive Summary)

The Executive Summary follows below.