China’s sovereign wealth fund has revealed that it was “essentially fully invested” at the end of 2010, underscoring its need for a fresh injection of cash from the government if it is to further expand its reach overseas.
China Investment Corp should have little trouble making the case for extra capital after it also disclosed in its annual report that it earned an 11.7 per cent return on its global investment portfolio last year, the same gain, to the decimal point, as 2009.
CIC invested an additional $35.7bn last year, favouring equities and alternative investments such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. That left the fund with just 4 per cent remaining in cash in its $135.1bn global portfolio.