MIB Seminar by Dr Anna Grosman (Loughborough)

Abstract: In this exploratory study, we analyse the drivers of the variation in sovereign wealth funds’ transparency across countries. Sovereign wealth funds have emerged as an important instrument for governments to invest and manage excess funds, which despite serving similar needs, vary significantly across countries. We integrate agency theory with the varieties of capitalism framework to propose that the country’s governance characteristics affect sovereign wealth funds’ multi-level agency problem, i.e., politicians acting as intermediaries between the citizens who are the nominal owners and the funds’ managers, and drive the cross-country variations in the characteristics of sovereign wealth funds. As a result, we propose that the home country’s type and quality of government and the origin of the wealth drive cross-country variations in the transparency of the sovereign wealth funds. We provide public policy suggestions for addressing these agency problems and improving sovereign wealth fund behaviour.

Biography: Dr Anna Grosman lectures the modules of corporate finance and digital finance. She is the Director of the MSc Digital Entrepreneurship. She is also the Research Lead for the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Anna is the Athena SWAN Lead and a member of the EDI Committee for Loughborough University London. Anna holds a PhD from Imperial College London. She has a strong background in investment banking, M&A and corporate strategy. Before starting her PhD, she worked as a Director of Corporate Development and M&A at Georgia-Pacific/Koch Industries in the International division. Anna also held various positions in investment banking and corporate finance for CIBC World Markets, Citigroup and Close Brothers. Anna is increasingly active in the field of state capitalism, that is a system where the government takes on an active role as an investor in the economy. Anna's original research is in corporate governance, i.e. how institutional environments, ownership networks and structures, board structures, etc. influence a firm’s outcomes. She is also interested in research on innovation and entrepreneurship. Her research has been published in top academic journals such as Journal of International Business Studies (ABS4*), Journal of World Business (ABS4), and British Journal of Management (ABS4), among others. In 2022, she published the OUP Handbook of State Capitalism and the Firm with Oxford University Press. Anna is keen to consult financial institutions and corporations that seek to improve their strategic decision-making or corporate governance structures and processes, providing advice in exchange for research collaboration. Anna is a research fellow at the South African Reserve Bank.