Australia Selling the Farm as 20% Price Slump Lures Global Funds

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Winston Heywood ended a 200-year family history when he sold his parched wheat fields to a fund managed by U.S. investor Westchester Group Investment Management Inc. for more than A$6 million ($6.4 million).

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund is looking recruit 100 roles globally

With the fee pot shrinking, many investment bankers in London will have come to the conclusion that moving to the Middle East isn't a great career move. However, if you still have aspirations to move to the region, you might want to look towards the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

According to various financial headhunters in the Gulf, the QIA has embarked on a relatively aggressive recruitment spree for 2011, and is looking to haul in around 100 people this year.

Rio Tinto Says $10 Billion Guinea Ore Mine Attracts Sovereign Wealth Funds

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second- biggest mining company, said its Simandou iron-ore mine project in Guinea has attracted interest from sovereign wealth funds.

The development, a venture with Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., has attracted “strong interest from other sovereign wealth funds and international financiers,” Alan Davies, president of international operations, said in a slide presentation posted on London-based Rio’s website today. The company has spent $1.5 billion at the West African site to-date and production is scheduled to start in 2015, it said.

Joseph Stiglitz on the I.M.F.'s Future

What's the Latest Development?

After being arrested in New York for the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid, the head of the I.M.F., French national Dominique Strauss-Khan, quickly resigned his post. Currently, the world's most powerful sovereign wealth fund is looking for a replacement. Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz thinks the current front runner, Christine Lagarde, France's current economic minister, is a good match for the job: "She has been an outspoken advocate of financial-sector reforms, and has won the respect of all of those with whom she has worked."

Goldman Sachs Lost 98% of Libya’s $1.3B Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment

As civil war roars on in Libya and Colonel Muammar Gadhafi vows to remain in power, reports surfaced that the Northern African country entrusted $1.3 billion through its sovereign wealth fund to Goldman Sachs in 2007, of which the investment bank lost approximately 98%, sparking the ire of Libyan officials. The fascinating drama includes Goldman offering Libya preferred equity and debt which could’ve made it one of the investment bank’s largest shareholders during the onset of the crisis, as well as intimidation and violent threats by Libyan officials.

Glencore float to have backing from sovereign wealth funds

Glencore has lined up a number of Asian sovereign wealth funds as "cornerstone investors" for its flotation on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges next month, with the commodities company looking for a market price tag of up to $73bn (£44bn).

City speculation suggested that China Investment Corporation (CIC), Temasek of Singapore, and Korea Investment Corporation have agreed to underpin the float by buying large tranches of shares.