Adia still in the lead as global SWF assets cross $4tn

Sovereign Wealth Funds' (SWF) global  assets crossed the $4 trillion-mark for the first time in history in the third quarter this year.

According to SWF Institute's just released rankings for Q3 2010, boosted by the Norwegian Global Pension Fund-Global's asset growth to over 3 trillion kroner ($512bn), global assets held by SWFs have now reached $4.033bn.

"The fund has grown faster and bigger than most people expected since getting its first inflow of capital in May 1996,"says Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) once again retained its crown as the world's largest SWF, with $627bn in assets while Saudi Arabia's Sama Foreign Holdings with $415bn in assets is No. 3 in SWF sweepstakes.

Oil based SWFs still hold the lead over non-commodity based SWFs, accounting for assets worth $2.351trn while non-oil and gas-related SWFs hold assets worth $1.68trn.

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