A U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund: Investment, Innovation, and Global Strategy
Virtual Briefing Series
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
The prospect of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund—most recently proposed by President Trump—has sparked renewed debate about America’s economic strategy at home and abroad. While sovereign wealth funds traditionally manage national surpluses for long-term strategic investment, the U.S. has never adopted one, despite the fact that the number of sovereign wealth funds globally has tripled since 2000. What is behind this global growth? What are the advantages and disadvantages to the U.S. of pursuing this strategy? Could it reorient foreign direct investment flows, enhance national economic security, or help maintain America’s competitive edge in key industries like technology? How might such a fund be financed in the absence of large budget surpluses?
Join us on Wednesday, May 14, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET to discuss these questions and more with Dr. Sarah Sewall, In-Q-Tel’s Executive Vice President for Policy; Courtney Fingar, Journalist, Commentator, and Consultant focused on foreign direct investment; and Edwin M. Truman, Senior Fellow at Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School. This conversation will outline the architecture, economics, and global ripple effects of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund.
THIS SESSION IS OPEN TO EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD
SPEAKERS:
Courtney Fingar
Courtney Fingar is a London-based journalist, commentator and consultant focused on foreign direct investment (FDI). She has covered business stories in all major regions of the world and has been on assignment to more than 80 countries. She has appeared on television and radio in dozens of countries as a commentator and has twice been called to give evidence to the UK Parliament about inward investment.
Among her ongoing media work, she writes a column for Forbes on FDI. She previously spent 15 years with the Financial Times, where she ran the group’s specialist FDI publication. Through her consultancy firm, she advises on the attraction of inward investment. She also serves as senior advisor for the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies. Fingar has a BA in journalism from the University of Alabama and an MSc in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh.
The Honorable Sarah Sewall, Ph.D.
Dr. Sarah Sewall is In-Q-Tel’s Executive Vice President for Policy, bringing decades of experience in government and academia to help IQT inform the policy debate. Dr. Sewall served as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, responsible for issues ranging from counterterrorism to refugees. She served on the Defense Policy Board under Secretaries Gates and Hagel. During the Clinton Administration, she was the inaugural Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance. She served for six years as Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
Dr. Sewall taught on the Harvard Kennedy School faculty for a decade, where she also directed the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. She worked closely with the U.S. military to advance civilian protection during military operations and develop doctrine to prevent civilian harm. She was Minerva Chair at the Naval War College and the Speyer Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She graduated from Harvard College and received her doctorate from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. ;
Edwin M. Truman
Edwin M. Truman is a Senior Fellow at Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Previously he served as assistant secretary of the US Treasury for International Affairs from December 1998 to January 2001 and returned as counselor to the secretary March–May 2009. He directed the Division of International Finance of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1977 to 1998. He was associated with the Peterson Institute for International Economics from 2001 to 2020. He joined the Institute as a senior fellow and was nonresident senior fellow from July 2013 through December 2020 when he resigned.
Truman has also been a visiting economics lecturer at Amherst College and a visiting economics professor at Williams College. He has published on international monetary economics, international debt problems, economic development, and European economic integration. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Threat or Salvation? (2010), Reforming the IMF for the 21st Century (2006), A Strategy for IMF Reform (2006), Chasing Dirty Money: The Fight Against Money Laundering (2004), and Inflation Targeting in the World Economy (2003).
THIS SESSION IS OPEN TO EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD
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