Sovereign wealth saviours

The financial markets have found their new superhero. With major investment banks on their knees after whopping subprime-related writedowns and liquidity in the bond markets severely affected, the arrival of sovereign wealth funds, with their groaning warchests, might just drag the market back from the brink. Laurence Neville reports

The credit crunch has ushered in a power shift in the global markets. Banks, desperate for new investment following a series of catastrophic writedowns, have turned to a new source of ready money: sovereign wealth funds. Just a year ago, these secretive investors were viewed with suspicion. Now they are being hailed as the saviours of the global economy after propping up some of the world's largest banks. With talk of further huge subprime-related writedowns to come - and the risk of the