Global SWF Reevaluates Best Practices of Sovereign Investors; Five Institutions From Canada, Ireland, Singapore, and New Zealand Lead the Pack.

Today, Global SWF published the 5^th edition of its GSR (Governance, Sustainability, and Resilience) Scoreboard, which has become the measuring stick of best practices among State-Owned Investors. The report is publicly available on www.globalswf.com/reports/2024gsr

The annual exercise analyzes the world's 200 largest Sovereign Wealth Funds and Public Pension Funds, which manage US$ 27.5 trillion on behalf of 80 countries. The assessment is based on 25 different elements that are answered binarily based on public information only. This year saw the following results:

• Sustainability scores continued to improve globally, when compared to 2023 ? yet, the average score in Governance (77%) is still much higher than that in Sustainability (51%) and in Resilience (50%).
• Five entities with different mandates got full marks: two Canadian pension managers (CDPQ, BCI), a European strategic fund (ISIF), and two Asia-Pacific state-owned investors (Temasek, NZ Super).
• The Middle East as a region continues to improve, and the average score has gone up by 16% since 2020 with progress led by Saudi Arabia's PIF (96% in 2024) and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala (92%).
• There continues to be a positive and strong correlation between best practices, as measured by Global SWF's GSR scores, and the financial performance of Sovereign Investors in the long run.

Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Holdings, commented: "We are humbly honoured to receive this recognition as one of the top-scoring investors for the second year running. Global SWF's independent assessment to address key areas such as transparency and accountability, impact and responsible investing, and long-term survival is aligned to Temasek's focus on governance, sustainability and resilience. We look forward to an increased level of engagement and sharing of best practices amongst our global peers as we endeavour to contribute towards a better, more sustainable and inclusive world."

Gordon J. Fyfe, BCI's CEO and CIO, added: "Amid an increasingly complex global investment landscape, strong governance and responsible investing practices have become imperative to deliver long-term, sustainable returns for our clients and their beneficiaries. This recognition reflects more than two decades of dedication to excellence in achieving our mandate, and the commitment of our world-class team. We are proud to be among leading global investors and look forward to continuing to support best practices across the industry."

Jo Townsend, CEO of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, stated: "The Guardians has long believed that good governance, a commitment to sustainable investment principles, and policies and processes that support a resilient organisation are fundamental to our success as a long-term investor. The big improvement in scores this year suggests more and more funds are adopting this way of thinking. That's encouraging for the industry ? but also challenges us to find new ways to improve our own performance."

Nick Ashmore, Director of ISIF, said: "We welcome this recognition from Global SWF which aligns with ISIF's endeavours to be a responsible investor, actively integrating ESG factors into its decision-making processes with a view to enhancing the overall outcomes for the Fund and ultimately its beneficial owner. ISIF often looks to its peers for learnings in best practice and being able to benchmark itself in this respect, as well as sharing the pursuit of common goals for the improvement of the investment landscape, which is important in ensuring it has a positive impact."

Diego López, Founder and Managing Director of Global SWF, concluded: "The GSR Scoreboard is the only objective, quantitative, and independent evaluation of best practices among Sovereign Investors, and we are fully committed to contributing to the advancement of the industry. These institutions are very heterogenous by nature, but there is a reduced number of them that are leading the way when it comes to best practices and positive change."

The report will be officially presented at an in-person event in New York City, on Thursday, July 11. Parties interested in attending can contact the representatives of Global SWF for further details.

About Global SWF
Global SWF LLC, which turns six years old today, promotes a better understanding of and connectivity into state-owned investors through the most comprehensive platform of data and research on these global funds. The firm also provides consulting services and an executive education program, the SWF Academy, for professionals working at sovereign and pension funds. For more details, please visit www.globalswf.com