Global sovereign wealth fund assets inch up to USD 6.51 tn… Assets at SWFs stood at USD 6.5 tn as at 31 March 2016, more than double the comparable figure for 2009, but only USD 200 bn more than a year ago, representing a yearly growth rate of only 3%, said a report by London-based research provider Preqin on Tuesday. The slow growth rate, which significantly lower than rates of 16-17 % reported in previous years, was attributed to falling commodity prices, particularly oil, with non-commodity funds adding USD 290 bn, while SWFs reliant on windfall revenues from oil and gas lost USD 10 bn. “Given that many sovereign wealth funds are established by oil-producing nations, it is perhaps unsurprising that the rate of increase in assets has slowed,” the researcher said. Many oil producing countries have indeed turned to their SWFs to cope with the current oil price slump, with Norway announcing to withdraw USD 570 mn from its USD 810 bn GPFG, the world’s largest SWF. Russia burned up 44% of its reserve fund last year, and Kazakhstan’s central bank plans to drain USD 28.8 bn from its USD 64.2 bn national fund. As for the GCC states, Saudi Arabia is selling its assets to create another USD 2 tn wealth fund that’s not reliant on oil; along with Qatar, KSA has been selling stakes to European companies. Fitch is also expecting that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority would divert more than USD 20 bn this year to shore-up the emirate’s budget