Initially ignored, then openly criticized, later still welcomed as benefactors of shaky financial capitalism, and finally victims of heavy losses due to the international financial crisis, sovereign funds have received much public attention in recent years, due to their large investments in United States and European Union businesses. The Gulf countries, Singapore, China, Libya, Russia, and Norway - thanks to their massive energy and trade surpluses - are the major players of this new phenomenon. How are sovereign funds established? What type of investment strategies do they enact? What are the geopolitical consequences of their decisions? What have international institutions done to promote their transparency? This book answers each of these questions and provides the reader with a comprehensive portrait of sovereign funds.

Alberto Quadrio Curzio teaches Political Economics at the Catholic University of Milan.

Valeria Miceli is a researcher at the Catholic University in Milan.