SWF Radar DmitryPankin

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Russia plans no changes to the draft strategy for the investment of its $49 billion National Wealth Fund due to the current market turbulence, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told Reuters on Friday.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Russia could invest up to half of its National Wealth Fund (NWF) in shares plus a further 30 percent in corporate bonds, including emerging market debt, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said on Monday.”

RosBusinessConsulting reports that, “Russia’s National Wealth Fund is expected to amount to over $100bn by the end of 2008, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told a press conference in Moscow today.”

On the same subject, Thomson Reuters writes that, “Russia has filled up its Reserve Fund for this year, and further cash from high oil prices will go to its National Wealth Fund, which is earmarked for riskier investments, its deputy finance minister said on Wednesday.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Russia is not planning to raise its exposure to debt issued by U.S. agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but will not cut it rapidly, Russia’s deputy finance minister [Dmitry Pankin] said on Wednesday.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “The Russian government is in talks with UBS and other Swiss banks on the management of its two oil wealth funds [the Reserve Fund and the National Wealth Fund(NWF)] which total $163 billion, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said on Tuesday.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Russia needs to lock up to $50 billion in its sovereign wealth fund for 5-7 years to make portfolio investment in foreign shares feasible, deputy finance minister Dmitry Pankin, who supervises the fund, told Reuters. Russia has set aside $162 billion in energy revenues split between two funds – the Reserve Fund, which serves as a safety cushion for the budget, and the $33 billion National Wealth Fund (NWF), earmarked for riskier investments.”

Reuters reports that, “Russia should keep investing its oil and gas revenues abroad rather than trying to use them to prop up domestic growth, Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin said on Monday. The investment of the newly-created $32 billion national wealth fund is a big issue in Russia, with the finance ministry saying the money should stay abroad, but others, including President Vladimir Putin, have said at least a portion of it could be used at home.”

(Please note that I’ve changed the respective tag from RussianNationalWelfareFund to RussianNationalWealthFund. There has been some confusion as to the correct English name for the fund, but it is called “National Wealth Fund” on its English-language pages at the Russian Ministry of Finance website, and the “Welfare” and “Prosperity” variants on its name should accordingly be retired.)

The International Herald Tribune reports that, “The power of Russian oil dollars… should not be feared as they make their way back to the oil consuming countries as investment, a high-ranking Russian finance official here said Thursday. Also, the new fund, while created this week, will not begin investing until September at the earliest, the official, Dmitry Pankin, a deputy finance minister, said during an interview.”

It’s worth noting that Lou Jiwei similarly said in late November 2007 that the CIC needed time to prepare for large investments and then, just three weeks later, oversaw his fund’s $5bn investment in Morgan Stanley.