The Gulf’s ‘Oil Five’ sovereign wealth funds invested $38.2 billion in 58 different deals during the first half (H1) of 2024, revealed the latest Global SWF Governance, Sustainability and Resilience (GSR) scoreboard.
The ‘Oil Five’ include Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
The Gulf’s ‘Oil Five’ sovereign wealth funds’ investments reached over double what Canada’s Maple Eight (largest Canadian funds) deployed and almost eight times what the Singaporean funds spent in H1 of 2024.
Global sovereign wealth funds
For the first time in history, the assets under management (AUM) of sovereign wealth funds exceeded $12 trillion, and the AUM of Public Pension Funds (PPFs) surpassed $24 trillion.
In this context, the investment activity of the first half of 2024 signals caution. Sovereign wealth funds invested $64.2 billion in 135 deals. Meanwhile, PPFs spent $31.9 billion on 101 deals. Investments saw a decline but were larger on average with an overall average size of $0.41 billion per deal, the largest the report has seen in many years.
The report reveals that the top 10 investments by state-owned investors (SOIs) in H1 of 2024 include:
Investments in green assets rise
Global SWF’s report reveals that the pressure of sustainability goals at the organizational level is impacting the preferences of SOIs. In 2021, investments in “green assets” (mostly renewable energy) surpassed “black assets” (mostly, oil and gas and mining) for the first time. This trend has persisted ever since into the first half of 2024.
The buy-back of 40 percent of ADNOC Oil Pipelines by ADQ-backed Lunate was important and could have reversed the trend. However, the report reveals that green investments saw significant activity too. This includes Mubadala’s investments in Australian, Indian, and Japanese renewable energy, Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) investments in British and Spanish wind and solar farms, and Ireland Strategic Investment Fund’s (ISIF) commitments into various regional funds and entities that focus on impact and sustainability.
Read: Saudi PIF’s revenues soar 100 percent to $88.22 billion in 2023
Gulf sovereign wealth funds are still interested in China
During H1 of 2024, sovereign investors have continued to debate geopolitical considerations and their exposure to China, with two opposite views: most Western funds are bearish, while Eastern funds are bullish.
Gulf sovereign wealth funds are still interested in China. Mubadala re-opened its Beijing office in 2023 to manage its $10 billion joint venture with SAFE and CDB. Meanwhile, ADQ helped finance CYVN (ADDoF)’s $3.3 billion investment in EV NIO.
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