The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published guidance for state ownership entities on developing portfolio-wide risk management frameworks to complement risk controls at individual state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Portfolio oversight remains limited: 81% of respondents reported rules or expectations for SOE-level risk systems, but only 41% assess the state’s overall exposure across the portfolio. This gap can obscure concentrated, interconnected and emerging risks affecting public finances, essential services and ownership decisions. The report identifies sustainability, financial and performance, and corruption and integrity risks as the leading priorities, cited among the top three risks by 75%, 58% and 50% of respondents, respectively. It recommends six mutually reinforcing building blocks: clear ownership objectives, defined governance and leadership, portfolio risk appetite and assessment criteria, integration into investment and restructuring decisions, stronger stakeholder engagement, and continuous monitoring and improvement. Shared terminology, standardized reporting, escalation mechanisms and portfolio dashboards should allow ownership entities to aggregate SOE data and distinguish policy-driven exposures from performance weaknesses. The findings draw on a survey covering 24 jurisdictions, international standards and case studies from Canada, Greece, Israel, Peru, Singapore and the United Kingdom. These examples show that frameworks can operate under different ownership models but require reliable reporting, analytical capacity and clear accountability to inform capital allocation, investment, divestment and restructuring.

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