Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Sovereign wealth funds: the Gulf’s biggest power players

By Shruthi Nair

Did you know that the world’s first sovereign wealth fund was set up in the GCC? Kuwait Investment Authority was established in 1953, eight years before the country’s independence, to invest surplus oil revenues.

Now every GCC country has a sovereign wealth fund responsible for financial returns and national economic development. 

“Today there are over 100 sovereign wealth funds holding $11 trillion worth of assets under management. Forty percent of those assets are here in the region,” said Javier Herrera, partner at Kearney. 

Four out of the world’s top 10 sovereign wealth funds are in the GCC. These government-backed investment vehicles have a set of common priority sectors in the region: manufacturing, renewables and healthcare. 

“There was no presence of local players in the automotive sector in Saudi Arabia two to three years ago. PIF took the lead role of catalysing the sector by making two anchor investments in Lucid and Ceer,” Herrera said. 

These investments started generating demand that resulted in new opportunities within the value chain. Ceer, for instance, is forecast to create up to 30,000 jobs and contribute $8 billion to the Saudi economy by 2034. 

Meanwhile in the UAE ADQ is playing a key role in advancing the healthcare sector.

“ADQ started by merging two key players – SEHA and Daman – under Pure Health. Since then, they started making more local and international players with the aim of making ‘regional champions’,” Herrera added. 

However, the capital of sovereign wealth funds is limited, which is why they are looking for other sources. 

To find out what these sources are and understand how the region’s sovereign wealth funds function, watch the full video.

Latest articles

STC wants to consolidate the mobile tower market

STC approves PIF purchase of telecom company

Shareholders of Saudi telecom giant STC have approved plans to create a new telecommunications infrastructure company in which the Public Investment Fund will have a 51 percent stake valued at SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion).  Under the deal, the STC-owned Telecommunication Towers Co. Limited (Tawal) will become a PIF subsidiary through a merger with Golden Lattice […]

Flavio Cattaneo of Enel, of which Endesa is a subsidiary, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi at the signing of the deal

Masdar buys stake in Spanish utilities company Endesa

The UAE’s state-owned clean energy company Masdar has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Spanish electric utility business Endesa to partner for 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets in Spain. Under the agreement, subject to regulatory approval, Masdar will invest nearly $890 million to acquire a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa, with an […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese […]

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

Dubai Taxi to pay $43m dividend despite profit drop

Dubai Taxi Company, a subsidiary of the emirate’s transport regulator, has approved a dividend payout of AED159 million ($43 million) for the first half of 2024 despite a marginal 1 percent increase in net profit. Net earnings reached AED187.4 million in the first six months of the year, compared to AED186.3 million at the same […]