Sovereign wealth funds face the limelight

Having been caught in a blizzard of media and regulatory attention in the first half of 2008, sovereign wealth funds are taking steps to try and improve their public image, including agreeing to a voluntary code of conduct in September, reports Julian Evans.

For decades, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been operating quietly in the shadows of the global financial system, with minimal fuss or publicity, buying minority stakes in western assets, and rarely even taking seats on the boards of companies they invested in. But that all changed in the last 12 months, when SWFs suddenly became the hot topic of the western financial media.