Take a look at our interactive map of natural resource funds, fund profiles and fund governance policy briefs.

BY THE NUMBERS

  • Natural resource funds held approximately $4.0 trillion in assets as of July 2014
  • More than 55 natural resource funds have been established in about 40 countries at the national and subnational levels
  • More than 30 new funds have been established since 2000 with several countries like Afghanistan, Bolivia, Cyprus, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Peru, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe considering creating new ones

What is a natural resource fund?

  • A natural resource fund—a type of sovereign wealth fund—is a special-purpose investment vehicle owned by a government whose principal source of financing is revenue derived from oil, gas or mineral sales. Natural resource funds serve at least one of the following macroeconomic or governance objectives: saving for future generations, covering unexpected budget deficits, sterilizing capital inflows, earmarking resource revenues for specific expenditure items, and ring-fencing resource revenues. They employ a set of investment strategies that includes investing in foreign financial assets.
 

Why is natural resource fund governance important?

  • Natural resource funds can help governments manage oil, gas and mineral revenues well. For example, they can be used to cover budget deficits when resource revenues decline, save finite revenues for future generations, or help alleviate the Dutch Disease. However they can also be sources of patronage or nepotism and can harm economic growth by undermining public financial management systems. In the over 40 countries with natural resource funds, fund transparency, accountability and appropriate operational rules are essential for transforming natural resource wealth into well-being.
 

About the NRGI-CCSI natural resource fund project

  • The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) have conducted a world-wide survey of natural resource funds (NRFs), looking at their management, investments, transparency, and accountability to the public, as well as the fiscal rules that govern them. Policy briefs, the NRF profiles and the webpage have been designed to provide government officials, policymakers, researchers and citizens with information to better understand NRF governance and in particular to equip policymakers with the necessary background to set up funds or reform existing ones.
 
Abu Dhabi
(United Arab Emirates)

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority


Year established: 1976
Assets (2014): > $773 billion


OTHER FUNDS

International Petroleum Investment Authority

Year established: 1976
Assets (2013): $68.4 billion

Mubadala Development Company

Year established: 1976
Assets (2013): $60.9 billion

Alabama (USA)

Alabama Trust Fund


Year established: 1985
Assets (2014): $2.84 billion

Alaska (USA)

Alaska Permanent Fund


Year established: 1976
Assets (2014): $52.4 billion

Alberta (Canada)

Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund


Year established: 1976
Assets (2014): $16.2 billion

Algeria

Revenue Regulation Fund


Year established: 2000
Assets (2013): $70.9 billion

Angola

Angola Sovereign Fund


Year established: 2012
Assets (2012): $5 billion

Azerbaijan

State Oil Fund


Year established: 1999
Assets (2014): $36.6 billion

Bahrain

Future Generations Reserve Fund


Year established: 2006
Assets (2013): $0.22 billion

Botswana

Pula Fund


Year established: 1994
Assets (2013): $5.7 billion

Brunei

Brunei Investment Agency


Year established: 1983
Assets (2014): $39 billion

Chile

Pension Reserve Fund


Year established: 2006
Assets (2014): $7.6 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Social and Economic Stabilization Fund

Year established: 2007
Assets (2014): $15.9 billion

Colombia

Savings and Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2011
Assets: not yet operational

Dubai (UAE)

Investment Corporation of Dubai


Year established: 2006
Assets (2013): $160 billion

Equatorial Guinea

Fund for Future Generations


Year established: 2002
Assets (2013): $0.2 billion

Gabon

Gabon Sovereign Wealth Fund


Year established: 1998
Assets (2013): $0.4 billion

Ghana

Ghana Heritage Fund


Year established: 2011
Assets (2013): $0.13 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Ghana Stabilization Fund

Year established: 2011
Assets (2013): $0.32 billion

Iran

National Development Fund of Iran


Year established: 2011
Assets (2014): $62 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Oil Stabilization Fund

Year established: 2000
Assets: No information available

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan National Fund


Year established: 2000
Assets (2014): $76.6 billion

Kiribati

Revenue Equalization Reserve Fund


Year established: 1956
Assets (2013): $0.65 billion

Kuwait

Kuwait Investment Authority


Year established: 1953
Assets (2013): > $400 billion

Libya

Libyan Investment Authority


Year established: 2006
Assets (2012): $65 billion

Louisiana (USA)

Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund


Year established: 1986
Assets (2013): $1.2 billion

Malaysia

National Trust Fund


Year established: 1988
Assets (2011): $1.7 billion

Mauritania

National Fund for Hydrocarbon Reserves


Year established: 2006
Assets (2014): $0.09 billion

Mexico

Oil Revenues Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2000
Assets (2014): $3.47 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Mexican Fund for Stabilization and Development

Assets: not yet operational

Mongolia

Fiscal Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2011
Assets (2014): $0.21 billion

Montana (USA)

Montana Permanent Coal Trust Fund


Year established: 1978
Assets (2013): $0.56 billion

Nauru

Phosphate Royalties Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2007
Assets: no information available

New Mexico (USA)

Land Grant Permanent Fund


Year established: 1898
Assets (2014): $14 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Severance Tax Permanent Fund

Year established: 1973
Assets (2014): $4.6 billion

Nigeria

Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority


Year established: 2011
Assets (2013): $0.98 billion

North Dakota (USA)

North Dakota Legacy Fund


Year established: 2011
Assets (2013): $1.2 billion

Northwest Territories (Canada)

Northwest Territories Heritage Fund


Year established: 2012
Assets (2013): $0.001 billion

Norway

Government Pension Fund Global


Year established: 1990
Assets (2014): $850 billion

Oman

State General Reserve Fund


Year established: 1980
Assets (2014): $13 billion

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea Sovereign Wealth Fund


Year established: 2011
Assets: not yet operational

Qatar

Qatar Investment Authority


Year established: 2005
Assets (2014): $175 billion

Ras Al Khaimah (UAE)

RAK Investment Authority


Year established: 2005
Assets (2012): $1.2 billion

Russia

National Welfare Fund


Year established: 2008
Assets (2014): $87.9 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Reserve Fund

Year established: 2008
Assets (2014): $87.3 billion

Sao Tome and Principe

National Oil Account


Year established: 2004
Assets: no information available

Saudi Arabia

SAMA Foreign Holdings


Year established: 1952
Assets (2014): $730 billion


OTHER FUNDS

Public Investment Fund

Year established: 1971
Assets (2008): $5.3 billion

Texas (USA)

Texas Permanent University Fund


Year established: 1876
Assets (2014): $17.2 billion

Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund


Year established: 2005
Assets (2014): $15.7 billion

Turkmenistan

Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2008
Assets (2012): $0.5 billion

Trinidad and Tobago

Heritage and Stabilization Fund


Year established: 2000
Assets (2014): $5.4 billion

United Arab Emirates

Emirates Investment Authority


Year established: 2007
Assets (2013): $15 billion

Venezuela

Macroeconomic Stabilization Fund


Year established: 1998
Assets (2014): $0.002 billion


OTHER FUNDS

National Development Fund

Year established: 2005
Assets (2012): $18 billion

Western Australia (Australia)

Western Australian Future Fund


Year established: 2012
Assets (2011): $0.6 billion

Wyoming (USA)

Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund


Year established: 1974
Assets (2014): $7 billion

 

This is a joint project of the Natural Resource Governance Institute and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment under the direction of Andrew Bauer and Perrine Toledano.

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of our primary researchers Gubad Ibadoglu, Eric Li, Ben Utter and Malan Rietveld and thank our peer reviewers Joe Amoako-Tuffour, Dina Azhgaliyeva, Gawdat Bahgat, Sara Bazoobandi, Joe Bell, Jim Cust, Alexandra Gillies, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Patrick Heller, Antoine Heuty, Keith Jefferis, Daniel Kaufmann, Thomas Lassourd, Andrey Makarychev, Gregory McGuire, Robin Mills, José Antonio Ocampo, Eric Parrado, Michael Ross, Lisa Sachs, Martin Sandbu, Anya Schiffrin, Martin Skancke, Constance Smith, Emma Tarrant Tayou, Silvana Tordo, Ted Truman, and Sam Wills.