Global sovereign wealth fund assets dominated by countries in the Middle East - IFN

Global sovereign wealth fund assets dominated by countries in the Middle East

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GLOBAL: In an update by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), sovereign wealth fund assets across the globe have reached US$5.8 trillion as of August 2013. Out of the entire sum, the regions of Asia and the Middle East are reported to possess the bulk of it, holding 40% and 35% market share respectively. There are approximately 35 sovereign wealth funds based in Muslim countries. Out of the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, 16 countries are home to sovereign wealth funds. This includes the UAE, Kuwait, Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. As the world’s largest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is ranked second after Norway in the SWFI list with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency holding a total of US$675.9 billion in assets. This is followed by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in the UAE with US$627 billion-worth of sovereign assets attributable to revenues from the oil and gas industry. Sovereign wealth funds sourced by oil and gas related activities make up 59% of the global sovereign assets whilst the remaining 41% is associated to other non-commodity related activities. According to the data, five sovereign-backed entities from the UAE were listed – Investment Corporation of Dubai, International Petroleum Investment Company, Mubadala Development Company, RAK Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority – all of which account for US$816.6 billion in sovereign assets from the emirates. Kuwait Investment Authority currently maintains US$386 billion, while Oman’s State General Reserve Fund conserves about US$8.2 billion in assets. Most sovereign wealth funds in the UAE obtain their reserves from revenues accrued in the oil and gas industry. Similar to the UAE, Brunei Investment Agency has sovereign reserves of US$40 billion which is also derived from oil production activities. Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund on the other hand, represented by Khazanah Nasional, retains US$39.1 billion in assets attributable to the non-commodities sector.