Mubadala aims to double Asia portfolio to 25% within a decade

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund plans to double its exposure to Asia, raising the share of Asian assets in its portfolio to about 25% over the next decade. 

Currently, Asia accounts for roughly 13% of Mubadala’s $330 billion in assets under management, or about $43 billion, the Zawya news agency reports. “In the next five to 10 years, we would love to see that double,” Mohamed Albadr, Mubadala’s Head of Asia, said during a discussion at Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

China, Japan, South Korea and India will be Mubadala’s core target markets in Asia, Albader said, citing their mature private-equity markets and exit-opportunity potential. The fund already maintains a Beijing office, a Hong Kong joint-venture office and a growing list of activities, including recent large deals in real estate and healthcare. 

Albadr said Mubadala would deploy capital in real estate, infrastructure and private equity, which will play a key role in late-stage and buyout investments.

Khazna Data Centers, meanwhile, a growing AI infrastructure business backed by Mubadala, appointed Mohammed Bin Hassan as Country Head for Saudi Arabia following the company’s acquisition of land in the port city of Dammam to develop new data capacity.

Mubadala assets climb to $327 billion amid AI, credit push

Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund, grew more than 9% last year, with assets under management reaching $327 billion.

In a 2024 earnings statement released today, Mubadala cited its co-founding of the MGX tech fund specializing in AI investments as a highlight of the year’s activities.

Also notable were its establishment of satellite company Space 42 through a merger, co-investments in real estate with Aldar Properties, and private credit lending in partnership with Apollo, Goldman Sachs, Carlyle and other U.S. money managers.

“Our portfolio has been constructed to navigate market cycles and scale future-focused sectors – from AI and clean energy to life sciences, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing,” Group CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said.

Saudi PIF back in the black in 2023

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund swung into the black in 2023, recording revenues of SR 331 billion ($88.3 billion) and more than doubling earnings growth from 2022, according to an audit by KPMG.

The fund is also nearing the trillion-dollar mark in assets under management, surging 28% to $986 billion last year.

The PIF, the most active state-backed investor in the world, has been fueled by surging public equities; the receipt of a transfer of 4% of Aramco shares; a turnaround in fortunes at Softbank, which in previous years has been the source of losses; and a flurry of acquisitions including in technology and energy diversification.

The fund recorded a profit of SR 64 billion ($17 billion) compared to a loss of SR 17 billion ($4.5 billion) in the previous year.

The national purse is the foundation of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy, relied upon to drive tens of billions of dollars in investments to develop nascent sectors like tourism, technology and manufacturing in the kingdom. 

Abu Dhabi’s new AI investment firm MGX in talks with Altman

This week, Abu Dhabi launched AI investment company MGX with the ambition of building up $100 billion in assets under management within a few years, which would make it one of the biggest AI-focused investors in the world.

Now, the brand new firm – with founding partners Mubadala and the UAE’s flagship artificial intelligence company G42 – is in early talks with Sam Altman to invest in his multi-trillion-dollar chip venture, the Financial Times reports.

A quick timeline of Sam Altman in the UAE: In June of last year while on a global speaking tour, he charmed a crowd in Abu Dhabi when he noted that the emirate has been talking about AI “since before it was cool.”

Four months later, G42 announced a partnership with Altman’s OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to scale up the availability of generative AI tools in the Middle East in sectors where it already has clients, like financial services, healthcare and energy.

Last month, Altman suggested the UAE could lead the formation of a global AI watchdog, speaking to UAE Minister of AI Omar Al Olama via video link during the World Governments Summit in Dubai.

The FT’s report today follows earlier headlines that the OpenAI Co-founder and CEO is seeking trillions of dollars to fund a chip-making business with the aim of reducing dependence on other manufacturers like Nvidia.

That would provide the vast computing power necessary to bring OpenAI’s biggest ambitions for generative AI to bear.

Al Olama told the FT that he also sees Elon Musk, who founded xAI last year, bringing some of his own business to the UAE.

“I don’t think it’s far out for him (Musk) to do something here,” Al Olama said, adding that “the economics are going to dictate what he and others do here.”

Abu Dhabi Global Market boosts company count by 32% as newcomers await entry

Abu Dhabi Global Market, the UAE capital’s financial Free Zone, boosted its roster of companies by 447 last year, a 32% increase, as it grew into one of the world’s largest financial districts.

Assets under management increased 35%, according to a statement released on Thursday. 

Among the 1,825 firms in the ADGM at the end of 2023, newcomers included Brevan Howard, Ardian, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, SBI Capital, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Apollo and Vibrant Capital.

Another 125 companies are in the process of seeking to set up shop in the ADGM.

Hong Kong’s Infini Capital announced that it received preliminary regulatory permission to establish an office and, upon final approval, would become the first Asian hedge fund in the ADGM.