Today's Edition
Khaled Al Khawaldeh (Abu Dhabi)
Abu Dhabi-based investment company, Mubadala, overtook Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to become the biggest-spending sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in 2024, according to a new report from industry analysis firm Global SWF.
Global SWF’s annual report released on Wednesday noted that Mubadala deployed $29.2 billion across its various subsidiaries in 2024, up from around $17.5 billion last year. This propelled the fund to the top ranking, overtaking Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which cut its investments by 37% this year down to $19.9 billion.
“At the beginning of this decade, we stated our ambition to double the size of our portfolio over a 10-year period. This aspiration has required us to target sectors offering the potential to deliver strong and sustainable financial returns,” Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mubadala’s Deputy Group CEO told the audience at Abu Dhabi Finance Week in December.
“As we near the halfway point in the 2020s, I'm pleased to report that we remain well on track to meeting the objective.”
Created 20 years ago as a tool to accelerate the development and diversification of Abu Dhabi, Mubadala has grown into a juggernaut with $302 billion in assets under management across more than 50 countries in sectors including technology, healthcare, renewable energy and infrastructure, aligning its portfolio with long-term global trends.
The massive 67% increase in deployed funds by the company in 2024 coincided with a year that saw the emirate of Abu Dhabi dubbed the “capital of capital” as it overtook Oslo to become the world’s largest SWF hub with over $1.7 trillion in assets under management.
According to Global SWF preliminary data, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) ranked as the largest sovereign wealth fund in the MENA region in 2024, managing an $1.11 trillion in assets. It was followed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, Saudi Arabia’s PIF, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Mubadala Investment Company, ADQ, and others.
By the end of 2024, the total assets managed by MENA-based sovereign wealth funds reached a remarkable $5.356 trillion, according to Global SWF estimates.
Mubadala’s spending, spread over 52 deals, accounted for nearly 20% of global spend by SWF’s globally and was in line with the overall 10% increase in investments from GCC funds in 2024.
As much of 85% of Mubadala’s spending went towards developed markets, with the US accounting for 57% and internal investments within the UAE only amounting to a mere 5%.
Nevertheless, according to Al Muhairi, the company is always in search of diversification, both in markets and technologies, and will continue to expand its reach in the future in order to combat volatile market forces.
“When we think about managing our portfolio, it shows that we have the resilience and diversification to account for globalisation becoming more fragmented with reasonable regions growing at different speeds,” he said.
“As supply chains become increasingly reorganised at the same time, we have to ensure that we capitalise on breakthroughs in things like artificial intelligence and other technological innovations that transform sectors and offer solutions to global challenges.”
