ADIA’s Assets Under Management Cross $1 Trillion Mark

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has joined the August club of the global sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and the first in the Middle East, whose Assets Under Management (AUM) have crossed the $1 trillion mark.

According to Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, besides ADIA, only three other SWFs including two from China – the Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global ($1.8 trillion), China Investment Corporation ($1.3), and China’s Safe Investment Center (1.08 trillion) – have more than $1 trillion assets under management.

ADIA, which was established by the Government of Abu Dhabi in 1976, is a globally-diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation.

Most of ADIA’s investments are in North America and Europe followed by Emerging Markets and Asia, according to the company’s 2023 review.

Strong Growth in AUM

ADIA’s Managing Director Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that at a total portfolio level, the proportion of the company’s assets managed internally has also grown, from 55% in 2022 to 64% in 2023.

He said that this increase can be mostly attributed to changes in how ADIA manages parts of its indexed equity exposures through the Core Portfolio Department, which has substantially expanded its internal capabilities in recent years.

“This provides ADIA with additional flexibility to optimise its investment activities and implement asset allocation decisions more efficiently. In parallel, ADIA is continuing to expand and deepen relationships with leading external managers across various asset classes,” he said in the 2023 review,” he said.

According to him, technology is at the heart of another high-priority area for ADIA and the UAE as a whole – the global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

In 2023, the UAE demonstrated its commitment to this process by hosting the United Nations COP28 Climate Change Conference, which brought together representatives from almost 200 countries. This culminated in a historic agreement to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, he pointed out.

As at 31 December 2023, ADIA’s 20-year and 30-year annualised rates of return, on a point-to-point basis, were respectively 6.4% and 6.8%, compared to 7.1% and 7% in 2022. As always, these figures are influenced both by years dropping out of the calculations as well as performance data in 2023, he added.

Investing in Indonesia and India

According to Forbes Middle East magazine, ADIA, Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management N.V. (APG), and the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA) have announced an investment in the Trans Java Toll Road sections of Kanci-Pejagan and Pejagan-Pemalang in Indonesia in January 2024.

This investment follows the Memorandum of Understanding signed in May 2021 to establish Indonesia’s first toll road investment platform, which aims to capitalise on up to $2.75 billion of investment opportunities within Indonesia’s toll road networks.

In October 2024, ADIA announced the establishment of a subsidiary at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), India’s international financial services centre.

The magazine quoting Maduell, President of the SWFI, said that ADIA is expected keep a steady pace in India in 2025, adding that the US will likely draw in more capital from Gulf SWFs, including ADIA, while they will be cautious on China.