SWFs can harm national security  Sovereign wealth funds raise worrying issues about national security. Unlike mutual funds or private equity groups, which seek only to maximise their investors’ returns, SWFs must be regarded as political entities. Rather than passively holding their assets, they may seek to use their purchases to gain access to natural resources, advanced technologies, including those crucial to our defence, or other strategic sectors. [1] For example Gulf states are using their SWFs to invest in food and natural resources from Latin America. [2] They may engage in economic nationalism, shutting factories in western countries to give an unfair advantage to their own industries [3] . While it has not yet happened they may even attempt economic blackmail, threatening to turn off the lights through their control of energy companies and utilities if governments do not fall in with their foreign policy aims. Allowing countries such as China, Russia and various Gulf states to buy up western companies at will is potentially very dangerous. Even if we regard these states as friendly at the moment, there is no guarantee that they will stay that way, especially as none of them share our political values.  [1] Lyons, Gerard, ‘State Capitalism: The rise of sovereign wealth funds’, 2007, p.14   [2] Pearson, Samantha, ‘Sovereign wealth funds: Foreign cash has its drawbacks’, 2011,   [3] Balin, Bryan J., ‘Sovereign Wealth Funds: A Critical Analysis’, 2008, p.4,