SWFs and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

In recent years, alternative investors—private equity, hedge funds, crowdfunding, and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)—have assumed an increasingly high profile worldwide. What sets such investors apart are their distinct agendas, their lack of commitment to specific industries or locales, and their focus on securing maximum returns and/or the furthering of a clear and distinct agenda. With this prominence has come a host of ethical and social responsibilities: these range from the responsibility to balance between the interests of different stakeholders which might be sometimes conflicting to intergenerational competition for resources. Many resource-rich states—including those in the Gulf—have their own SWFs. This chapter provides an introduction to the SWF ecosystem and highlights the range of ethical and corporate social responsibility (CSR) debates that emerge, both for Middle Eastern SWFs and those from further afield, identifying best practices and potential ways forward.