SWFs deploy less capital in 2020, PPFs slightly increase capital deployment

Overall, and compared to 2019 volumes, investments by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) dropped by 33 percent, to $83.7 billion in 280 transactions; while capital deployed by public pension funds (PPFs) slightly increased in both value and volume, up to $78.6 billion in 223 deals, according to a report by Global SWF, a data platform that tracks sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds.

State-Owned Investors (SOIs) continue to hold on average three-quarters of their portfolios in liquid assets, this has translated into a net growth of the industry size. In other words, SWFs and PPFs ended 2020 with an all-time high assets under management (AUM) of $9.1 trillion and $18.4 trillion, respectively, i.e., a 21 percent (SWFs) and a 34 percent (PPFs) growth, respectively, in the past six years, since the 2015 oil crisis.

Properties and infrastructure saw the biggest declines in allocation spending. Among SWFs, the number of deals in this space represented only 29 percent of