KIA allocates some holdings away from stocks towards cash

Reuters reports that, “The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the Gulf Arab state’s sovereign wealth fund, has reduced exposure to global stock markets since October, shifting assets instead into short-term cash funds, a government report said. In a briefing to parliament, the government said KIA had cut the ratio of international share investments in a key fund in a bid to minimize the effect of the global financial crisis on Kuwait, the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter, according to a copy of the report obtained by Reuters on Sunday. The news comes after KIA, which manages Kuwait’s substantial oil-generated assets, last year burned its fingers by buying into U.S. banks such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch before both stocks nosedived and the latter filed for bankruptcy protection.

Kuwait Investment Authority, which like other sovereign wealth funds does not disclose its investment policy, had come under fire in parliament for making those investments.”

read more: Reuters

Available Today