Sovereign wealth funds in emerging economies should become more transparent and work with developed countries to establish a code of practice in order to mitigate against a protectionist backlash in the west, Standard Chartered bank warns today.

The seven largest sovereign wealth funds have more than $1,810bn (£889bn, €1,277bn) to invest and are growing faster than the world economy as a whole, the report says. They are also taking bigger stakes in sensitive sectors in developed countries, such as energy, telecommunications and financial services.