UAE's SWFs assets under management rise to $811.7 billion

Total assets under management of the UAE’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) rose to $811.7 billion in September 2012, registering an increase of $28.7 billion since March, SWF Institute October update reveals.

However, the institute reported that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) lost the top position as the richest SWF in the world to Norway’s Government Pension Fund.

SWF Institute said total assets managed by the Government Pension Fund, Norway, reached $656.2 billion, while ADIA assets stood at $627 billion.
Combined assets under management by SWFs rose six per cent to $5.13 trillion in third quarter 2012 compared to $4.84 trillion in the same quarter last year.

With a guess estimation of $568 billion, China’s SAFE Investment Company continued to be in third position.

Saudi Arabia’s Sama Foreign Holding with $532.8 billion was on the fourth position, followed by China Investment Corporation with $482 billion.

Qatar Investment Authority with assets worth $115 billion remained at the 12 position.

The sovereign fund has bought properties in London, backed the Shard project in London Bridge, bought Citigroup’s London headquarters and a quarter of the Canary Wharf development company.

All figures quoted are from official sources, or, where the institutions concerned do not issue statistics of their assets, from other publicly available sources. Some of these figures are best estimates as market values change day to day, says SWF Institute.

In June, Boston Consulting Group said private wealth in the Middle East and Africa may rise 6.6 per cent annually to $6.1 trillion in 2016 as the region’s oil- rich economies continue to prosper.

Wealth in the region increased to $4.5 trillion last year, up 4.7 per cent from $4.3 trillion in 2010, the consulting firm said.

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