Abu Dhabi Tops World's Richest Cities with $1.7T Sovereign Fund
Global Sovereign Wealth Fund (Global SWF) announced in its latest report that Abu Dhabi has been ranked as the wealthiest city globally in terms of the total capital managed by its sovereign wealth funds.
As of October 2024, the total assets managed by several sovereign wealth funds headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), amount to nearly $1.7 trillion. These funds include the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala (including the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Mubadala Capital), ADQ (which includes part of the business of Lunate), the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, Tawazun (including EDGE), and the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA).
Oslo, the capital of Norway, ranks second with its Government Pension Fund (GPF) managing assets over $1.6 trillion. Following closely are Beijing, home to the China Investment Corporation (CIC), Singapore, which manages the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Temasek, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with its Public Investment Fund (PIF).
As of October 1, 2024, the total capital managed by the sovereign wealth funds of the top six cities accounts for two-thirds of the total global capital managed by sovereign wealth funds, totaling $12.5 trillion.
Advertisement
It is noteworthy that the substantial capital managed by Abu Dhabi's Royal Private Offices (RPOs) is not included in the aforementioned figures. These private offices have a somewhat blurred line with sovereign wealth funds, with a combined asset size of up to $344 billion.
Furthermore, the report points out that Abu Dhabi is also leading in human capital, meaning that the number of employees hired by the sovereign wealth funds in this jurisdiction is the highest, reaching 3,107 people. Singapore (GIC, Temasek), Riyadh (PIF), Kuala Lumpur (Khazanah, PNB), and Dubai (ICD, DIF) follow closely with employee numbers all exceeding 1,000.
Abu Dhabi is the only region consistently rated AA, Aa2 by S&P, Fitch, and Moody's. According to Fitch's assessment, Abu Dhabi has one of the lowest government debt levels (15% of GDP) and one of the highest liquidity ratios (350% of GDP). As of December 2023, Abu Dhabi only bears one-third of the total debt of the UAE government.
In the first three quarters of 2024, a total of 68 financial service companies registered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial free zone. In addition, since 2015, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the UAE have continued to grow, reaching a peak of $30.7 billion in 2023.
Global SWF estimates that by 2024, the assets managed by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds will approach $1.7 trillion. In addition, Abu Dhabi also has $200 billion in central bank assets, $100 billion in public pension fund assets, and $344 billion in Royal Private Office assets, totaling $2.3 trillion.
It is estimated that by 2030, the asset management scale of several sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi may grow to $2.3 trillion, while the asset management scale of all its sovereign investors may reach $3.4 trillion. Among them, ADIA, Mubadala, and ADQ are the most active in investment activities, with a total investment of $36 billion in the first three quarters of 2024.
Live a Comment