Home ListingJanuary 16, 2014

Peak Assets: Institutional Investors at Davos

<em>Which CIOs are heading to Switzerland next week?</em>

Reported by Featured Author

(January 16, 2014) — Of the 2,633 people attending the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, a select 15 of them are collectively responsible for several trillion dollars.

Just 0.5% of the guest list are institutional investors—and almost half of them are based outside the largest western economies.

Bader M. Al Sa’ad, managing director at the Kuwait Investment Authority, who made the trip last year, will be joined by his Middle Eastern neighbour Abdullatif A. Al Othman, governor and chairman of the board for the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority—his debut appearance at Davos.

Another first-timer Shahmar Movsumov, CEO of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, will be joined by his deputy Israfil Mammadov at the high-altitude event.

Invites to Asian nations include Singapore’s GIC, who is sending Group President Lim Siong-Guan, Korea’s National Pension Service, represented by Chairman and CEO Choi Kwang, and the China Investment Corporation, for which President and Vice-Chairman Gao Xiqing will make the trip to Europe.

US investors are fairly lightly represented by just Theresa Whitmarsh, executive director at the Washington State Investment Board and Paul Eckley, senior vice-president for investments at State Farm Insurance Companies.

However, various foundations, including Ford, Rockefeller, and Gates, have representatives on the guest list, but they feature in a project-driven rather than investment capacity.

The mountain resort will also host Canada’s largest investors, Mark Wiseman, president and CEO of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Michael Sabia, president and CEO of the Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec, who are both repeat guests from last year.

Europe’s collection of investment professionals includes Norway’s Yngve Slyngstad, CEO, Norges Bank Investment Management, the UK’s Danny Truell, CIO of the Wellcome Trust and newcomer Torben Moger Pedersen, CEO of PensionDanmark.

Big-hitters from asset management to appear at the rest include Bridgewater’s founder and CIO Ray Dalio and the firm’s CEO Greg Jensen, Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb, and Deborah Boedicker, managing director of Strategic Investment Group.

Another note-worthy attendee will be Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital and its Las Vegas alternatives conference.

The forum will bring together 196 academics, 288 government officials, 48 representatives from international organizations, and 2,101 private sector attendees. Only 15% of expected attendees are women—a drop from 17% last year.