Excellent overview of how IPAs should adapt to opportunities presented by sovereign wealth funds and capital providers by Gavin Winbanks, founder of White Hawk Green and co-founder of the UK’s Office for Investment from FDI Intelligence
Political leaders are courting capital providers as alternative sources of finance for projects, and institutional investors are seeking international investment opportunities. However, both local and national-level investment promotion agencies (IPAs), which are more accustomed to FDI by corporates, must do more to understand the unique characteristics of capital investment attraction.
According to data provider GlobalSWF, the world’s top 10 sovereign investors deployed more than $120bn of fresh capital internationally in 2023. If we expanded this figure to include other institutional investors such as pension funds, insurers, and asset managers, the total amount would be staggering. More should be done to seize this opportunity.
At the moment, however, it remains misunderstood. For it to be better delivered, more needs to be done to explain what it is, how it benefits economies, communities, and investors, and equip IPAs to provide them with a better-quality service.
