Sovereign wealth fund and financial crisis – a shifting paradigm

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to empirically analyze the influence of the financial crisis on the investment behavior of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Design/methodology/approach – Using 615 deals from 20 SWFs, a series of research are designed and conducted to compare the SWFs' governance, external environment, investment strategy and financial markets' feedback around the crisis. Findings – The paper finds that the recent financial crisis did not only bring SWFs heavy losses and the pressure to improve its image and governance structure, but also a precious opportunity of a better external environment by easing the nerves of the recipient country's government. Their investment strategies will be more positive, diversified and complementary to their own real economy. The event studies illustrate that financial markets turn to be more effective after the crisis. The market reaction to SWF's investment tends to mitigate speculative trading to a larger extent, which is shown by the lower cumulative abnormal return and turnover volatility. Originality/value – This paper tries to test the change of SWFs' behavior pro- and post-crisis. It reveals that SWFs have changed their effects on SWF's home country, SWF's host country, the financial market and the real economy after the financial crisis, which is helpful for government and institutions to maintain the stability of the national economy and security market.