Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has long been an institutional investor in the United Kingdom. In fact, the KIA has an office in London and a subsidiary called the Kuwait Investment Office which was established in 1953. Recently, the KIA reaffirmed its commitment to investing in the United Kingdom and plays a significant role in the UK financial sector.

One of the main reasons why the KIA invests in the UK is that the country has had a transparent economic policy over the financial credit crisis compared to the Eurozone. In addition, the KIA sees the UK as a relative safe haven compared to other Westernized nations.[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

Kuwait is strengthening its economic position in Egypt. The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is planning to set up a sovereign wealth enterprise to invest US$ 1 billion in Egypt’s stock market. This is a significant symbol of confidence in the Egyptian capital markets after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

After a long series of tense negotiations with various potential institutional investors, Areva SA, the French controlled company is planning to receive capital by year end.  The firm has around 3% of its capital listed, which are non-voting investment certificates.  [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

According to Reuters, “Three Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds and UAE-based property developer Al Maabar have raised 15 billion dirhams for a tourism fund that aims to put Morrocco among the world’s top 20 destinations.  Omar Bennani, who heads state-controlled Moroccan Touristic Engineering Company (SMIT), said the four investors were Bahrain’s Mumtalakat, the Kuwaiti Investment Authority (KIA), Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Al Maabar of the United Arab Emirates.

“The contribution of the four partners is of at least 15 billion dirhams … They are committed to support us throughout the next 10 years,” Bennani told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

He said the investors did not want their individual contributions to the Moroccan government-backed fund be made public. The fund aims to attract 100 billion dirhams in investment.

The fund will finance resort developments in Morocco that aim to more than double tourism receipts to 150 billion dirhams by 2020.”

Read more: Reuters

[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

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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