The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) was established as a part of long-term oil strategy envisioned by national leader - Heydar Aliyev to ensure wealth for both current and future generations. Since its establishment, SOFAZ has played an essential role in the socio-economic development of the country via efficient, transparent and prudent management of oil & gas revenues. Over the past years, SOFAZ has been recognized as a respected institution for its achievements in areas as asset management, governance, institutional capacity building, and transparency and accountability, which also positively contributed to Azerbaijan’s strong international reputation.

SOFAZ has received an overall score of 92 and has been ranked 5th among 64 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the 2019 Sovereign Wealth Fund Transparency and Accountability scoreboard published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The 2019 scoreboard is based on an assessment of a broad range of elements, including Asset Management, Governance, Resilience, Transparency and Accountability, as well as the implementation of Santiago Principles. SOFAZ has scored nearly the highest points in each category and sub-categories in the assessment for 2019.

Peterson Institute for International Economics has also developed a scoreboard to assess the Santiago Principles' implementation – the Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP), in which SOFAZ has also been ranked 5th. The assessment is based on 16 out of the 24 Santiago Principles that roughly match up with the elements of the SWF scoreboard.

https://www.piie.com/sites/default/files/documents/pb21-3.pdf

Founded in 1981, the Peterson Institute for International Economics is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthen prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical policy solutions. According to the “2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index” report, conducted by James McGann, Ph.D., a senior lecturer at the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, the Peterson Institute for International Economics has been named number one Think Tanks in the United States, as well as, the 9th Think Tanks in the world. The Peterson Institute for International Economics is also considered the best International Economics Policy Center of Excellence in 2016-2019 and the best managed Think Tanks in 2020.