Sick as a sovereign wealth fund: how better to describe an investor who has done a very large and exceptionally badly performing deal? In the space of just a few months, SWFs from Asia and the Middle East have lost billions of dollars by recapitalising western banks. Such losses, and the rapid fall in the US currency, increase the risk that foreign investors will lose their appetite for dollar assets.

Abu Dhabi’s implied capital loss on its investment in Citigroup is about $2.5bn since last November. December’s investment in Merrill Lynch by Temasek of Singapore is off about $600m. Even that looks a lot healthier than its compatriot fund GIC, which alongside a still unnamed Saudi investor is down by about $5.5bn on its investment in UBS of Switzerland.