The Chinese way with sovereign wealth

Dai Xianglong, NSSF: big boosts for AUM

While China’s leading state banks take a trip down memory lane, loading up on bad debt like it’s 1999 (or 1989, or 1979), one slice of the country’s economy is literally rolling in cash. The country’s three vast sovereign wealth funds are awash with money and getting bigger all the time, swelling as they siphon state cash into everything from US treasuries to stakes in global buyout firms.

Unlike so much in this often excessively homogenous nation, China’s three big sovereign funds are a diverse bunch, each with its own set of tics and quirks.