As of September 2009 best estimates are…

 

By Global Capital Institute – approximately USD$178 trillion in assets – updated results.

Previous estimate:  USD$200 trillion – with estimates of --

Owned / controlled by governments - $15 trillion – 8% of total – 2007 year end estimate
USA government owned / controlled - $3 trillion (20% of $15 trillion) – 2007 year end estimate

 

McKinsey & Company Capital Markets has issued its research update results (25 September 2009) with these highlights: year end 2008 world financial assets fell by USD$16 trillion to $178 trillion, with world equities leading the loss, declining by $28 trillion.

Source:  McKinsey Global Institute:  Report:  Entering a new era

Link to full report PDF here: http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/reports/pdfs/gcm_sixth_annual_report/gcm_sixth_annual_report_full_report.pdf

 

Note:  Your editors have seen estimates up to USD$300 trillion – see this “answers-google” thread:  http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=206505

 

Important note from McKinsey Global Institute:  Four (4) “new power brokers” are having a growing impact now on global capital markets – Asian Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and Asian Sovereign Assets, petrodollar exporters, hedge funds, and private equity (PE) firms.  The combined assets of these players rose by 22% to USD$11 trillion.

 

Total of classes (September 2009 update report of previous data) were:

·          Asian SWFS and Sovereign Foreign Assets – USD$4.6 trillion.

·          Asian SWFs alone – USD$670 billion Assets

·          Private Equity firms – Assets Under Management – USD$900 billion for leveraged buyout funds.

·          Hedge Funds – USD$1.9 billion Assets Under Management

·          Oil Exporters – USD$4.6 trillion in Foreign Financial Assets

 

Oil Windfall Capital – McKinsey Global Institute (September 2009)

The Gulf Cooperation Council (6 Middle East nation-states) could grow from the base of foreign assets of USD$1.9 trillion (year end 2006) to USD$6.2 trillion by 2020, depending on oil prices. At that level, the GCC nation-states (energy exporters) would have USD$3.5 trillion in new funds to invest in global capital markets by 2020, raising their total foreign wealth to USD$8.3 trillion by 2020.

 

Private Equity Firms
USD$27 trillion                     source: US Census Bureau (May 2009)

 
Total net profits distributed by P/E firms through 2007 - $1.12 trillion.

70% of funds raised with the Top 100 Private Equity firms were from public and private pension funds, foundations and endowments.

Transactions topped $721 billion in 2007. Private equity firms and their investors contributed $234 in equity.

Activities:  Leveraged Buyouts, Hedge Funds, Venture Capital, Distressed Debt, Securitization, Private Equity, Merchant Banking, Real Estate transactions, Secondary Lending, etc.

 

Mutual Funds – United States
USD$10 trillion under management (year end 2008) for 93 million US investors (USD$9.6 trillion) – 2008 net cash flow in to funds: USD$411 billion.

Largest group of investors in US stock, commercial paper and municipal securities markets – 51% of the world’s mutual fund assets under management in 2008.

Source: 2009 Investment Company Fact Book, © 2009, Investment Company Institute

Data: http://www.icifactbook.org/fb_sec2.html

 

Mutual Funds – Global – Equity, Bond, Money Market, Balanced/Mixed
USD$18.9 trillion (year-end 2008)  Source: Investment Company Institute 

Mutual Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds, Unit Investment Trusts, Closed-End Funds

 

Sovereign Wealth Funds
USD$3.5 trillion to $5 trillion (estimates vary in this range)

Projected to reach $15 trillion in the next decade  – Peterson Institute – Edwin Truman
61% of funding – gas and oil related

Assets invested: equities, fixed-income, real estate, a host of indexes, hedge funds, pools, entire companies, investment trusts, alternative instruments, more classes.

 

SRI / Socially Responsible Investors / Sustainable & Responsible Investors
USD$2.7 trillion    Source: Social Investment Forum for 2008

 

US Public Employee Pension Funds
USD$2.3 trillion (year end 2008)        Source: Bloomberg News/Census Bureau

 

Managed Investments / Hedge Funds
USD$1.7 trillion

Hedge Funds, Funds of Hedge Funds, Futures Funds, Pools, Non-traditional asset classes
There are 8,000 hedge funds worldwide – assets total USD$1.7 trillion.
Estimate: 75% of all assets are managed by the top 200 firms, each with $1 billion+ under management

 

Retirement Assets – USA – Fortune magazine, August 2009 issue

 

Total Value of USA Retirement Assets – USD$14 trillion

 

Private Pension Plans:  $2.0 Trillion

 

Federal / State / Municipal Pension Plans & Funds:  $3.5 trillion

 

Annuities:  $1.4 trillion

 

Individual IRAs (retail investors):  $3.6 trillion