FTAlphavilleFT Alphaville is a 2008 Webby Award Winner

• News
• Markets Live

Sovereign wealth funds are being forced to offer more generous remuneration and hire headhunters in their drive to attract top-notch executives to help deploy their investments. Financial sector specialists believe the more aggressive tactics will help SWFs poach some of the most talented executives from western private equity and investment firms. State-backed funds in Asia and the Middle East are increasingly seeking both investment professionals with experience of western and Asian markets and more high-profile non-executives to bolster their legitimacy and political contacts of their advisory boards. China Investment Corporation, Beijing’s new $200bn foreign exchange fund, plans to approach Alan Greenspan, former Fed chairman, to join its international advisory board. However, private-equity stars would still have to take big pay cuts to join most SWFs and are put off by their lower return-on-investment targets and close links to government owners.