Leading global sovereign wealth funds 2022, by assets under management

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund (SWF) as of December 2022 was China Investment Corporation (CIC), managing assets reaching around 1.35 trillion U.S. dollars. The CIC is used to manage a portion of China's foreign currency reserves and established in 2007.

What are sovereign wealth funds?

Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned and are comprised of a wide array of financial assets including stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, and other financial instruments. In the main, sovereign wealth funds are funded by foreign-exchange reserves, assets which are held by monetary authorities or central banks in the form of U.S. dollars and other leading world currencies as a way of backing liabilities.

Who holds the SWF?

A state’s central bank will generally hold the sovereign wealth fund; in the process of its management of a nations funds or banking system funds will be accumulated. These types of state fund are of major economic and fiscal importance, and may be implemented for different objectives: protect the economy against sudden shocks, hedge against the problem of an aging population, or to foster socio-economic development.