Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company emerged as the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund investor in 2024, deploying $29.2 billion across 52 deals and outpacing Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Mubadala’s investments jumped 67 per cent from $17.5 billion in 2023, while the Saudi PIF’s spending dropped 37 per cent to $19.9 billion from $31.6 billion in the previous year, Global SWF said in its annual report on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The Abu Dhabi fund, which has $330 billion in assets under management, directed 85 per cent of its capital towards developed markets, with the United States accounting for 57 per cent of investments. Only 5 per cent was deployed within the UAE, highlighting the fund’s global expansion strategy.
Along with Mubadala, four other Gulf funds ranked among the top 10 global dealmakers: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, ADQ, PIF, and Qatar Investment Authority. Collectively known as the “Oil Five,” these funds maintained their market dominance in driving global sovereign wealth fund activity.
The shift in PIF’s position follows comments made by its governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the Future Investment Institute (FII) in Riyadh last October, indicating plans to reduce foreign investments to around 20 per cent of total assets under management in an effort to focus on domestic funding instead.
Global sovereign wealth funds invested a total of $136.1 billion in 2024, marking a 7.1 per cent increase from the previous year across 358 deals. The average investment size was $380 million.
The report also revealed that sovereign wealth funds surpassed $13 trillion in assets under management for the first time, with the Gulf region representing 38 per cent of the total. China and Norway emerged as dominant players, holding 20 per cent and 14 per cent of total assets respectively.
Mubadala, which invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, has expanded its focus to key growth sectors including artificial intelligence, technology, financial services, life sciences, and healthcare, according to its chief executive Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
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