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Abu Dhabi overtakes Oslo as SWF capital

Combined assets under management (AUM) on track to reach $2.2 trillion by the end of 2024

Abu Dhabi is the leading city that manages the most Sovereign Wealth Funds capital globally, according to the Global SWF’s First City Ranking.

Abu Dhabi has overtaken Oslo the world’s foremost hub of wealth fund capital thanks to the $ 1.7 trillion in assets managed by its various SWFs headquartered in city.

The SWFs based in Abu Dhabi include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), Mubadala Investment Company (MIC), Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), and the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA).

The UAE sovereign wealth funds have leading GCC peers with their combined assets under management (AUM) on track to reach $2.2 trillion by the end of 2024, followed by Saudi Arabia, with $1.12 trillion, according to data provided by Global SWF.

In a special report announcing a new global ranking of cities, the Global SWF said Abu Dhabi now ranks slightly above Oslo, home to the world’s largest SWF, the Government Pension Fund (GPF), which manages over $1.6 trillion in assets.

Abu Dhabi and Oslo are followed by Beijing (headquarters of the China Investment Corporation), Singapore (with GIC Private and Temasek Holdings), Riyadh (home to the Public Investment Fund), and Hong Kong (where China’s second SWF, SAFE Investment Corporation, operates from). Together, these six cities represent two-thirds of the capital managed by SWFs globally, i.e., $ 12.5 trillion as of October 1, 2024, the report said.

“The world ranking confirms the concentration of sovereign wealth funds in a select number of cities, underscoring the significance of these financial hubs on the global stage,” said Diego López, founder and managing director of Global SWF. “This report offers valuable insights into the landscape of SWF-managed capital and shows that is shifting and expanding in certain cities in the world.”

The report noted that for the past few decades, Abu Dhabi has grown an impressive portfolio of institutional investors, which are among the world’s largest and most active dealmakers. In addition to its SWFs, the emirate is home to several other asset owners, including central banks, pension funds, and family offices linked to members of the Royal Family. Altogether, Abu Dhabi’s public capital is estimated at $2.3 trillion and is projected to reach $ 3.4 trillion by 2030, according to Global SWF estimates.

Abu Dhabi, often referred to as the "Capital of Capital," also leads when it comes to human capital i.e., the number of personnel employed by SWFs of that jurisdiction, with 3,107 staff working for funds based in the city.

As per an earlier report by Global SW, the AUM of SWFs from the GCC, including the “Oil Five,” is forecast to reach $7.3 trillion by 2030 with their investment in the first nine months of 2024 hitting $55 billion. The ‘Oil Five’ SWFs, include Adia, ADQ, Mubadala, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority.

The GCC SWFs manage today $4.9 trillion in capital and are scheduled to break $5 trillion in early 2025 and $7.3 trillion by 2030 while their total assets under management (AUM) are expected to hit $10.2 trillion by the end of the decade