Reuters – An increasing number of sovereign wealth funds are working in concert to make joint strategic investments in order to reduce risks and maximize returns, which could provide a stabilizing force in financial markets.

State-owned funds from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait are among those which have recently signed agreements to form investment partnerships with each other.

These partnerships will enable state-owned funds to optimize local knowledge, leverage capital, spread investment risks and maximize returns.

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Tags: capital investment, china, financial-markets, investment partnerships, investment risk, investments, korea, kuwait, leverage, leverage capital, local knowledge, partnerships, singapore malaysia, sovereign, strategic investments

Professional Pensions – European schemes are increasing their allocation to non-traditional asset classes in a bid to manage their risks more effectively, Mercer says.

The consultant’s European Asset Allocation Survey – which polled around 1000 schemes from 11 countries – found 35% of UK schemes and 60% of European schemes (excluding the UK) expected to introduce new investment classes into their portfolio to help manage future investment risk.

Mercer investment consulting European head Tom Geraghty said: "Despite being innately diverse in history, culture and regulatory requirements, European pension funds have all felt the effect of the last year’s market turmoil.

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