Spain rolls out art, monarchy and Real Madrid to attract petrodollars

Spain wants to show off before the world’s major investors. In October, Madrid will host the annual meeting of the International Forum for Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), an association that includes representatives of the investment vehicles of the Persian Gulf monarchies. Event organizers have already booked the Prado Museum, the Royal Collections Gallery (which King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will inaugurate next week) and the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Art, monarchy and Real Madrid to seduce the petrodollars.

Spain joined this London-based organization only three years ago. The IFSWF does not include all of the world’s big investment vehicles (for example, Norway’s mega Government Pension Fund is missing), but it does include the investment branches of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Investment Corporation of Dubai, Mubadala), Qatar, Oman, China (CIC, China Investment Corporation), Singapore (GIC), Australia, France...

The October event in Madrid is being organized by Cofides (Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo), a public-private joint stock company that offers financial support to viable private projects in emerging or developing countries in which there is a Spanish interest. For Cofides president José Luis Curbelo, it is a unique opportunity to show off Spain’s status as a very attractive destination for investment to the leaders of some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.

37 members

In addition to the large funds from the Persian Gulf, China and Singapore, there are some 20 public or semi-public investment vehicles from countries in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania. There is also an investment fund from Alaska.

The group was created in 2008 to agree on a series of commitments on governance issues and, in recent years, has steadily added new countries. Its members manage investments totaling €5.2 trillion, representing 80% of all money channeled through sovereign wealth funds.

The organization of the IFSWF annual meeting will coincide with Spain’s presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of the year. The great unknown is who will be representing the Spanish government at the time, since the early election on July 23 could end Prime Minister’s Pedro Sánchez term in office.

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