The PIC’s ascendancy marked the rapid rise of an entity that for most of its 103-year history was little known outside its home country. But it has become by far Africa’s largest asset manager and can claim to match the firepower of the best-known Middle Eastern SWFs, such as the Qatar Investment Authority. Mr Masilela bristles at the state-owned PIC being lumped into the SWF category, pointing out that it is a pension fund manager for public employees, rather than a classic sovereign vehicle funded by state surpluses. Instead, the South African corporation bears a closer resemblance to the big public pension funds in North America, including the giant California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

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