State Street Introduces Vision Report on Sovereign Wealth Funds

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), the world’s leading provider of financial services to institutional investors, today released its Vision Report on sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), the fifth report in a series of papers targeting issues at the core of institutional investing. State Street’s Vision Series is intended to advance understanding of key themes and trends within the financial services industry. The latest report assesses the impact of SWFs on the global economy. With nearly $3 trillion in aggregate financial resources and a rapid growth trajectory, SWFs are increasingly important cross-border investors. Across the industry, their rise to prominence has provoked discussion across the industry around issues of accountability, transparency and the appropriateness of government control over investment decision-making. "While political issues relating to sovereign wealth funds have dominated the discussion, less attention has been paid to the actual nature of SWFs — their liabilities, their differing investment objectives and their likely impact on capital markets,” said Jay Hooley, president and chief operating officer of State Street. "Drawing on State Street’s perspective as a market practitioner, we’ve focused our report on these areas. We hope our insights into this fast-growing market will assist industry participants as they formulate their own views and anticipate trends that could affect them and their customers.” State Street was among the first investment managers to recognize and focus on this unique client segment and now manages assets for more than 70 sovereign and supranational clients. In 2000, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), State Street’s investment management arm, established the Official Institutions Group (OIG) to oversee investment management services for sovereign clients such as central banks, government agencies and supranational institutions. State Street’s investment servicing and research and trading businesses also maintain relationships with more than 40 SWFs and central banks. State Street provides flow-based investor behavior research to approximately 70 percent of the world’s central banks, including those in all G10 countries. The Vision Report on SWFs draws on knowledge from George R. Hoguet, managing director, senior portfolio manager and global investment strategist specializing in emerging markets at SSgA; John Nugée, managing director, SSgA, and head of State Street’s Official Institutions Group; and Andrew Rozanov, head of Sovereign Advisory and managing director of State Street Global Markets. State Street has published Vision Reports on topics including the Asian bond markets, hedge fund servicing, the insurance industry and global pensions. To obtain a copy this Vision Report on SWFs or for more information, members of the press can contact publicrelations@statestreet.com. All other requests can be directed to vision@statestreet.com. About State Street: State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is the world's leading provider of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $15.3 trillion in assets under custody and $1.9 trillion in assets under management at June 30, 2008, State Street operates in 26 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. For more information, visit State Street’s website at www.statestreet.com.