In a significant display of financial activity, three sovereign wealth funds from the United Arab Emirates collectively invested $36.5 billion in 2023, as reported by Global SWF in their annual review for 2024.
Mubadala, based in Abu Dhabi, was a standout, securing the third position among the world’s top ten SWFs with investments totaling $17.5 billion. Not far behind, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) placed investments worth $13.2 billion. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) also made notable contributions with $5.9 billion, taking the seventh position, while Abu Dhabi’s ADQ was close on its heels with investments of $5.8 billion.
Outshining its peers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) led the pack with a whopping $31.5 billion invested across 48 transactions, marking a 33% increase from the previous year.
The trend of co-investments has been gaining traction, surpassing $30 billion for the first time. Mubadala has been at the forefront, strengthening the UAE’s economic position through joint investments, including partnerships with ADQ and Brookfield. These collaborations have funded ventures like Network International Holdings in Dubai and Resilience in the U.S. biopharmaceutical sector.
Interestingly, Mubadala has been equally active in divesting assets, liquidating $122.7 billion worth of investments between 2018 and 2022, a figure mirroring its investment total. Notable exits from its portfolio include significant stakes in CEPSA, Borealis, and OMV, as well as the iconic Chrysler building in New York and a portion of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.
Additional cash-outs have been realized through private placements or initial public offerings (IPOs) of regional powerhouses such as Masdar, Aldar, and YahSat.
In a strategic move earlier in January 2023, the UAE SWF finalized the sale of a majority stake in Mubadala Health to G42, raking in $2.4 billion.
The report also hinted at the dynamic future of the Gulf’s investment landscape, with the creation of Dubai’s new SWF poised to stir the sector and potentially lead to significant personnel shifts akin to those witnessed during ADQ’s inception.
Looking ahead, Global SWF projects the assets of state-owned investors, including sovereign funds, public pension funds, and central banks, to reach an impressive $54.9 trillion by 2025, escalating to $71.0 trillion by 2030. The frontrunners of this growth are expected to be Norway’s NBIM, Saudi’s PIF, and Japan’s GPIF, each managing over $2 trillion in assets.