Can Regional Sovereign Wealth Funds Expand and Grow in Latin America?

Eric Parrado Herrera is Chief Economist and General Manager of the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) since March 2019. Before joining the IDB, he was a professor of economics and finance at the ESE Business School of the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. Mr. Parrado is a visiting professor at Oxford University and ETH Zürich, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Frontier Risks. From 2014 to 2018 he was the Superintendent of Banks and Financial Institutions in Chile, where he promoted reforms such as the modernization of banking legislation and the creation of new instruments for financial inclusion.

In his career, Mr. Parrado has focused on monetary, fiscal and financial policy, advising central banks on managing inflation targeting regimes and implementing sovereign wealth funds in several countries. He has also written several academic articles on monetary policy, fiscal policy and sovereign wealth funds.

Victoria is the Director of Strategy and Communications at the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), a global network of sovereign wealth funds with members from almost 40 countries. In her role, Victoria works with IFSWF members to curate a programme of online and offline knowledge-sharing and networking activities related to all aspects of their operations from governance to investment strategies.

Victoria has worked in the sovereign wealth fund world for over a decade and has become a noted author and commentator on SWFs. In 2012, she founded the Sovereign Wealth Center, an online provider of data and analysis about SWFs, now part of Institutional Investor’s Sovereign Investor Institute. Before joining IFSWF, Victoria was Director of Investec Asset Management’s Investment Institute, which was responsible for the firm’s thought leadership. 

Patrick J. Schena, PhD, is BLR Professor of Practice in the Department of Economics, Tufts University and Director of Tufts’ Finance Minor. He is also Adj Professor of International Business at The Fletcher School, where for 20 years he has taught courses on finance, investment management, and private equity. Since 2009, he has served as Co-Head of SovereigNet, The Fletcher Network for Sovereign Wealth and Global Capital. In addition, he is an Associate-in-Research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. In parallel to his academic work in finance, which has included teaching in several Boston-area MBA programs, Dr. Schena has 30 years of industry experience in finance, investments, operations, and technology management with a disciplinary focus in asset management.