Sovereign wealth funds should not be subject to strict disclosure rules despite concerns over their increasing presence in global markets, argued Georges Sudarskis, the chief investment officer at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
“I understand the desire to know a little more. But this is regulating an investment organization that belongs to a country,” he told the board members of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System during their yearly off-site meeting.
“Disclosure has never been the cure,” said Sudarskis, who was speaking on a panel during a session titled “International Institutional Investment Organizations” at the meeting of the $227.7 billion system as reported by Pensions & Investments.
Other panelists included David Neal, chief investment officer of the A$61.5 billion (US $56.3 billion) Future Fund of Melbourne, Australia, and Robert Kaproth, director of the office of international monetary policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury.
At least one member of the retirement board had different views from Sudarskis.
George Diehr, vice president of the CalPERS board, said it is in the interest of sovereign wealth funds to provide more transparency of their actions. “It’s because they are so opaque that people are concerned,” Diehr said in an interview wth Pension