The Strategic Choice of Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Impact of Fund Level Heterogeneity on Investment Decisions and Governance

Author

Malak Abdulaziz A Malibari

ORCID Identifier(s)

0009-0003-5649-0336

Graduation Semester and Year

2023

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Management

Department

Management

First Advisor

Abdul Rasheed

Abstract

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have emerged as a new form of state-owned multinational companies (SOMNCs), structured to manage the wealth of countries and promote their economic development. They mainly function as institutional investors, but what drives those investment decisions has yet to be fully understood due to the limited prior research in this area. However, it is increasingly recognized that SWFs are not a homogeneous class of investors. This study draws on multiple theoretical perspectives and argues that the heterogeneity across SWFs leads to different investment and governance choices. Specifically, I examine the impact of the variation in the source of funds, objectives, board composition, age and size on multiple transaction-and fund-level decisions. At the transaction level, I consider the impact on three investment decision areas (location, approach, and equity ownership). At the fund level, I focus on two strategic choices (investment model and shareholders activism). Using a sample of 3590 transactions from 70 SWFs located in 40 countries between 2015-2021, I found strong support for the impact of the SWF's heterogeneity variables on the location and the investment approaches of transactions. On the other hand, the effect of the disparity across SWFs on the fund investment model and shareholder activism is less conclusive.

Keywords

Sovereign wealth funds, state-owned multinational companies, strategic choice, governance, location decision, investment approach, shareholder activism

Disciplines

Business | Business Administration, Management, and Operations

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Recommended Citation

Malibari, Malak Abdulaziz A, "The Strategic Choice of Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Impact of Fund Level Heterogeneity on Investment Decisions and Governance" (2023). Management Dissertations. 69.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/management_dissertations/69