Comparative Portfolio Analysis of Selected Sovereign Wealth Funds and Case of Turkey

After World War II, the number of SWF increased due to higher number of countries with foreign trade surplus by precious mines and energy exports. The countries with goods and service exports and foreign trade surplus used SWF to spread these organizations. Turkey has started to parlay the financial assets of the state by establishing Turkey Wealth Fund Management in 2016, although there is no reasonable resource to establish the asset fund. Since there is no economic surplus, public institutions operating on the market have been transferred to the Turkish Asset Fund for financing. Turkey Wealth Fund’s financial sources consist of only noncommodity (public companies’ surplus—some of which have negative profit) assets. From this aspect, this paper aims to compare and analyze the funding and investment methods of selected sovereign wealth funds. To clarify the question, top 10 wealth funds in the world and Turkey Wealth Fund are compared in terms of asset size and transparency index. Also, Temasek of Singapore is used as specific example for Turkey Wealth Fund due to its resemblance. Conclusions are that in order to be successful wealth fund, Turkey Wealth Fund needs better transparency, credibility, and auditability. At current situation and structure, Turkey Wealth Fund does not meet the specific conditions like counterparts around the world.