Sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment to focus on Asia

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co aims to focus on investments in Asia, as China recovers from the pandemic and the Indian economy grows.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television at Davos, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO, Mubadala, said the fund expects China to make a strong recovery this year. The fund also sees investment opportunities in India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Khaldoon said the fund's portfolio is underinvested in the economies of India and Korea and Mubadala will now look closely at these countries. The fund already has a strong investment team in China.

The $284-billion fund is looking to invest in technology, venture capital, energy transition, software, short- and medium-term credit, and digital infrastructure globally.

Khaldoon said the current mood is that of cautious optimism; while there are headwinds, the environment is not so bad, he said.

Despite the overall slowdown in investments in the global markets, sovereign wealth funds from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region have been actively investing in global startups in the past two years. 

In 2021 and 2022, GCC-based sovereign wealth funds cumulatively made 88 deals, amounting to $35.81 billion, according to YourStory Research data. In 2022, US-based startups were their favourites, receiving $3.8 billion, across 14 deals. These were followed by startups in Saudi Arabia, which garnered $2.78 billion from four deals. UK startups raised $1.96 billion across five deals, while Indian firms grabbed $995 million from three deals.