Sovereign wealth funds are increasingly seen as valuable partners to companies hoping to expand, according to a survey by BNY Mellon. Nearly 60% of the 650 companies surveyed said they meet sovereign wealth funds, up from 47% last year.
Western European companies are particularly keen to court the sovereign wealth funds, with nearly 70% meeting them. Among US companies this figure is 42%.
“Companies are adapting to new global market realities and taking a strategic approach to sovereign wealth, as well as growing investor pools from China to India to Brazil, as they seek to better position their firms in higher-growth regions of the world,” said Michael Cole-Fontayn, chief executive officer of BNY Mellon’s depositary receipts business.
The survey also suggests the European Union’s MiFID II proposals will have some support from the corporate sector. Three-quarters of companies surveyed said there should be more regulatory oversight of trading mechanisms such as dark pools, short selling and high-frequency trading. This sentiment was especially strong among US companies, where almost 90% believed in more regulation.
©2011 funds europe
