Meeting: Ken & Andrew — Canadian Sovereign Wealth Fund
Date: 2026-03-31 Attendees: Ken Yang, Andrew (works at Saudi Arabia’s PIF, MBA at INSEAD France)
Summary
Ken and Andrew discussed collaborating on advancing a sovereign wealth fund concept in Canada. Andrew has 5 years experience at Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and sees a Canadian SWF as “democratizing capitalism.” Ken outlined Commonwealth Canada’s framework and proposed an open letter campaign to gather support from policymakers, economists, and business leaders.
Key Points
- Andrew described working at PIF as motivating despite challenging geopolitical environment
- Parallels to successful models: Norway, Alaska, Australia, Saudi Arabia
- Growing interest from technologists (Sam Altman, Vinod Khosla) who see SWFs as addressing post-labor job displacement
- Ken outlined 3 factors for policy success: economic feasibility, influential supporters, political favorability
- Shane Parrish and Peter McKinnon both active on provincial SWF advocacy
Action Items
- Ken: Flesh out ideas for the open letter and project, coordinate with Andrew May-Aug 2026
- Ken: Reach out to Andrew with questions about PIF insights before in-person meeting
- Ken: Call Canadian research firm to discuss polling options for SWF proposal
- Andrew: Send Ken contact info (including WhatsApp)
- Ken & Andrew: Meet in person (Whitby or halfway) May-Aug 2026 to draft open letter and plan campaign
Notes
- Andrew returning to Canada mid-August after finishing work at PIF
- Andrew taking 3-month break from INSEAD MBA program in May-August 2026
- Potential collaboration on “softball fund” initiative also discussed