Owning a sports team was once a guaranteed way either to lose money or to make a little by spending a lot. Today, the world’s wealthiest people are snapping up elite franchises, backed by an army of wealth managers, data experts and investment bankers. Ivo Voynov, global head of sports finance at Citi Private Bank, explains what turbocharged sports finance, and why it is such an important and profitable business for global private banks.

India’s first international financial services centre was created by premier Narendra Modi in 2008. Today, Gift City is a flourishing hub near Ahmedabad in the country’s arid northwest. K Rajaraman, chair of the International Financial Services Centres Authority, tells Euromoney why the zone is vital to India’s financial and economic aspirations.

The investment firm founded by securitization experts in 2015 has grown to an $8 billion portfolio of 60 companies without managing any third-party funds and still sees big potential returns, notably in football clubs, from applying the discipline of structured finance to operating businesses.

A new study attempts to quantify the damage of 2022 for sovereign wealth funds. Beneath the numbers are tumultuous levels of deal activity, as funds tried to take advantage and position for the long term.

Sovereign wealth and pension funds have poured into private and illiquid asset classes over the last 10 years.

Last week’s financial summit aimed to show investors Hong Kong is open for business. While well attended, it also served as a reminder of how closed off the financial hub has become and how much of its lustre has been lost.

Qatar has spent 12 years and more than $200 billion preparing for the World Cup, which kicks off on November 20. What happens when the games end and the tourists leave?

New trading protocols offer some hope that investors may find the other side of the trade, but turnover in normally liquid bonds can suddenly collapse.

Groups such as Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, CDPQ and British Columbia Investment were forerunners in the development of new private-market asset classes, particularly infrastructure. Euromoney traces the evolution of the funds’ approaches and scale to the point where they are desired partners for private assets worldwide.

Plans to incentivize foreign capital aim to boost capacity, with a new internal ‘investment bank’ to drive growing pipeline.

A Singapore-based investment vehicle fronted by former Commonwealth Bank of Australia CFO Rob Jesudason aims to invest in financial disruptors that will complement the industry without reinventing it.

Douglas Flint, former HSBC chair and current chairman of Abrdn, talks to Euromoney about climate change, his hope for the future and how he convinced CEO Stephen Bird to join the firm over fish and chips and a pint in an Edinburgh pub.

Opening up personal and small business loans as an asset class for retail investors brings rewards as well as the obvious risks.

Fintechs are caught in a brutal competitive squeeze between losses on businesses they are good at and the urgent need to offer new ones.

Private equity has been slow to join the ESG revolution. More firms are waking up to the opportunities on offer as well as the downside risks.

The UK has been hit by Brexit as well as the pandemic, making for poor returns and a weaker recovery. UBS argues that this allows investors to buy while it is cheap.

East Capital co-founder Karine Hirn began her investing career in Russia in the 1990s before moving to China to head up the firm’s Asian expansion. She discusses the challenges of the Chinese market, why eastern Europe has the edge on corporate boards and why governance is key to ESG.

There are interesting titbits on Africa, private debt and renewable energy at the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.

The Public Investment Fund is unrecognizable from the sleepy vehicle it was until 2015. More risk has led to some bad investments, but the crown prince says overall returns are good. Can they stay that way?

China’s asset management industry barely existed 20 years ago. By 2030 it will be the world’s second largest. There are myriad ways for foreign firms to get it right – or horribly wrong. Here are Euromoney’s precepts for a better chance of winning – and avoiding failure.

Environmental, social and governance investors can lend out their securities, but greater communication and transparency is needed for it to work.

What can we learn from the China Investment Corporation’s latest numbers, which cover the year prior to Covid?

Environmental, social and governance factors are financially material and the time for debate is over – unless you’re Trump.

Faced with an estimated $100 billion budget deficit but committed to a vast expenditure programme, Saudi finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan explains how he plans to balance the books.

The government’s resignation this week could pave the way for reform – and unlock essential IMF funding – but is the will to change there?

The sovereign wealth fund is withdrawing to cash, has seen a once-in-a-generation drawdown and is positioning defensively.

A new Euromoney podcast series traces the relationship between space and the private sector, from the early Cold War state-funded model of Apollo to one in which venture capital backs the most interesting and visionary ideas.

Alternative data can tell in near real time the story of economic and financial market disruption now playing out, but asset managers need artificial intelligence to read it.

Bronte Capital’s John Hempton takes a unique approach to finding the stocks he wants to short; it has given him a cult following in his native Australia and beyond.

Private lending vehicles that are structured to maximize fees are looking dangerously fragile, and mismarking of asset values could spark legal disputes.