The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, will not make any major investments for the next six months, Hussain al Abdulla, the executive director, said yesterday.
The QIA is the main investment vehicle for Qatar, which has some of the brightest economic prospects in the world this year due to an expected increase in natural gas revenues. The fund, founded in 2005, has invested the majority of its assets either outside of the region or within Qatar's non-oil sector in an attempt to diversify the country's wealth away from energy sales.
"For the next six months, we will be basically doing nothing," Mr al Abdulla said on the sidelines of the Wharton Global Alumni Forum, a conference sponsored by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the US.
Last year, the fund lost less than 20 per cent on its investments during one of the most difficult periods in decades, Mr al Abdulla said. Although the fund does not disclose its size, QIA is estimated to have US$60 billion (Dh220.37bn) in assets, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Other investment funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, may have suffered losses up to 30 per cent last year as a result of the global financial crisis, according to analysts.
"The only investment opportunity in 2009 is volatility," said Mr al Abdulla. "We should all go for a long holiday and come back in 2010."
When the fund does begin to invest again, it "will focus on commodities: food, energy and water", he said. "We see a structural change in commodities because of the growth in China and India."
Cash-starved western institutions have welcomed investments from sovereign funds because they are viewed as one of the few sources of much-needed funding, with global credit in short supply. However, analysts said the funds may be growing more reluctant to make any purchases, given the global economic uncertainty.
"Sovereign wealth funds should not be viewed as a piggy bank. Treat us fairly and equally," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa, the chief executive of Bahrain's Economic Development Board and a board member of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, the Mumtalakat Holding Company.
Earlier this week, the Qatari government announced its sovereign fund would bolster the local financial system by purchasing the investment portfolios of local banks. The move, expected to be completed by the end of this month, "will restore confidence in the banks", Mr al Abdulla said.
While the QIA has recently been putting more focus on domestic priorities as the global financial crisis strains its banks and limits access to international capital markets, the authority's staff and ambitions are growing rapidly.
Mr al Abdulla said the QIA already employed 125 financial professionals and planned to hire another 50 this year, tapping the talent pool that has departed from traditional western banks.
tpantin@thenational.ae
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
The%20Mother%20
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani