Should the US have a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

I see that this question was asked once a while ago but there didn't seem to be much discussion. Does anyone think that the US should reform part of the Social Security Trust Fund to act more as a sovereign wealth fund and make more direct investments? With $2 trillion or whatever it is in assets now just sitting in "special issue" Treasuries, it seems like there is ample funds that could be invested in any variety of things, with infrastructure and other "nation-building" assets coming to mind.

I understand that any change would require an act of Congress (then a decade-long process to set up a bureau dedicated to this and then likely followed by a lengthy legal battle to the Supreme Court), and coupled with our current level of political gridlock any kind of investing would take forever and the red tape would be insane, but theoretically speaking is there anything that would make this hard to do, or even necessarily a bad idea?

Here's a link of the returns of the "special issue" Treasuries that the Trust Fund has to be invested in by law:
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/newIssueRates.h…

8 Comments
 
I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Yeah that's what first got me thinking, especially the Alaskan one that made me think of the Norwegian and Middle Eastern ones.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

Fugit et expedita ut ut hic velit. Accusamus dolor non facilis sint mollitia officiis fugiat. Deserunt officiis quia repudiandae explicabo.

Autem quia incidunt ab dolorem aut sint dignissimos. Molestiae iusto at neque dolorem adipisci eligendi. Autem cumque quis laborum et voluptates.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”