UAE's Mubadala to address its under-investments in Asia, says CEO

UAE's Mubadala to address its under-investments in Asia, says CEO

An employee stands in front of a Formula One race photograph at the Mubadala stand outside the Ferrari store in Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi, September 23, 2008. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company is under-invested in Asia and the geography will be a focus area for the sovereign wealth fund, its CEO and Managing Director said on Friday at a summit in the UAE’s capital city.

“Asia in general, we are under-invested in that … you have to take a very strong view on India, you have to take a strong view on South-East because that’s where growth is, that’s where the populations are growing,” Khaldoon Al Mubarak said during the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa summit.

Abu Dhabi is the world’s richest city when measured by the assets held by sovereign wealth funds, sitting on $1.7 trillion, according to a Global SWF report released in October.

Mubadala currently has $330 billion in assets under management, the CEO said on Friday.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak said that AI and private credit two more spaces where the company, which has a significant exposure to the US, is focusing on.

Credit is “another … very clear growth area that we are going to continue to invest in and has done very well for us,” he said, noting the wealth fund has an exposure to the asset class of almost $20 billion presently.

Its alternative asset management unit Mubadala Capital on Thursday said it would acquire a 42% stake in US credit asset manager Silver Rock Financial to bolster its presence in the sector, and plans to commit over $1 billion to the firm’s funds over time.

The CEO’s comment followed remarks during the same event by another senior executive at Mubadala, who said a day before that the fund is “cautiously optimistic” on economic prospects for next year.

“If the incoming (US) administration reduces regulations, as they’ve been talking about” combined with improvement in the regional geopolitical environment, we should see a continuation of economic growth, deputy CEO Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi said.

Reuters

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