Institute of Sovereign Wealth
Strategy Guide

Santiago Principles & State Control

Analyzing the spectrum of transparency and political independence across global wealth vehicles.

FrameworkSantiago Principles
High_ScoreNBIM (Norway)
Low_ScoreLIA (Libya)

The Santiago Principles

In 2008, fearing protectionist backlash against state-owned capital, a group of SWFs created a voluntary set of 24 guidelines for transparency and governance. Compliance remains highly variable.

Political Independence

The core governance metric is independence from the state's immediate political objectives. NBIM operates under a strict parliamentary mandate executed by the central bank. Conversely, funds in absolute monarchies often see direct royal intervention in asset selection.

Santiago Compliance Estimator

Score a fund out of the 24 principles to gauge institutional trust.

Trust Tier