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Qatar Investment Authority

Sovereign wealth fund of Qatar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Qatar Investment Authority
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The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; Arabic: جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.[2] The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 billion of assets under management.[3]

Quick Facts Company type, Founded ...

The QIA's structure and decision-making procedures have been characterized as non-transparent.[4][5] Spending decisions regarding the fund have been linked to the emir and the prime minister (regardless of whether they sit on the board of the fund).[6]

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History and profile

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The QIA was founded in 2005 by the then-emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses of the government of Qatar.[7] As a result of its stated strategy to minimize risk from Qatar's reliance on energy prices, the fund predominantly invests in international markets (United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and within Qatar outside the energy sector. Prior to establishment of the QIA in 2005, Qatar's Ministry of Finance had a small in-house team to invest revenue from budget surpluses.[8] The Qatar National Vision 2030 foresees the shift from natural gas based revenue to QIA-type investments between now and then.[9] QIA does not publish its holdings to the market.

In June 2013, after the new emir's arrival to power, and a general reshuffle of Qatar's main organizations, Ahmad Al Sayed was appointed as QIA's chairman and chief executive officer, replacing Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani in the post[10] while also remaining managing director and CEO of QIA's main subsidiary, Qatar Holding.[11] Sayed held the post for 16 months. In January 2015, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of Qatari telecommunications company Ooredoo, was appointed as CEO and served until 2018.[12] From July 2022 to November 2024, Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud has held the position of CEO of the company.[1] He was succeeded by Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi.[13] In March 2023, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani was appointed chairman and replaced his predecessor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who was named as the country's Prime Minister, in addition to his long-standing role of Minister of Foreign Affairs.[14]

The fund is a founding member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.[15][16]

As of 2021, the Qatar Investment Authority had more than half of its assets invested in private equity and listed shares.[17] According to Bloomberg, QIA has increasingly targeted start-ups in growth markets, such as Asia and the US. It has invested in indoor farming and firms that make plant-based meat alternatives.[18]

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Structure

Executive Management

  • Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi – CEO[19]

Board of Directors

Subsidiaries

QIA's subsidiaries include Es'hailSat,[20] Hassad Food,[21] Katara Hospitality,[22] Ooredoo,[23][24] Qatar Airways,[25] Qatari Diar,[26] Qatar Holding,[27] Qatar Stock Exchange,[28] QNB Group[29] and QNBN.[30][31]

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Investments

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In January 2013, one writer pegged the QIA investment in Britain at €30 billion, France at €10 billion and Germany at €5 billion,[9] while another reported that the total assets under management in June 2013 was on the order of $100 billion.[32] Qatar Holding's stake in Barclays rose to 12.7% following Barclays' capital raising in October 2008.[33] Qatar Investment Authority holds a small stake in Fisker Automotive. It also holds about 17% stake in the Volkswagen Group, Porsche, Hochtief,[34] as well as investments in Sainsbury's.[35] The French government has made of Qatar a strategic partner, and the list of partnerships between the two states includes Lagardère (12%) Total (4%), EADS (6%), Technip, Air Liquide, Vinci SA (5%), GDF Suez, Veolia (5%), Vivendi, Royal Monceau, France Telecom and Areva.[9][34][36] In February 2009, France accorded special beyond-OECD investment privileges to Qatar and its state-owned enterprises; one example is capital gains exemptions in France.[36] The QIA is also reported to hold part of Glencore.[32]

On 8 May 2010, Qatar Holding, an indirect subsidiary of QIA, purchased the Harrods Group from Mohamed Al-Fayed, including the Knightsbridge department store.[37] QIA are also the largest shareholder in Sainsbury's.[38] On 3 December 2010, Qatar Investment Authority, along with Colony Capital and Tutor-Saliba Corporation, was part of an investment group known as Filmyard Holdings, which purchased Miramax from Disney.[39]

QIA holds a 6% stake in Credit Suisse. The French government has offered tax exemptions for Qatari real estate investments in the country and have acquired almost $4 billion of property.[40] In May 2012, it acquired a stake below 3% in Royal Dutch Shell. It has announced a plan to raise its stake to 7%.[41] In late 2012 Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) completed a buyout of the French football club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (P.S.G.), which valued the club at $130 million.[40] QSI invested a further $340 million in the club, they had bought the Paris Saint-Germain Handball team the previous year.[40] The Qatari president of P.S.G., Nasser Al-Khelaifi is also the director of Qatari owned television network Al Jazeera Sports, which launched French television channels beIN Sport. Qatar has also offered to finance social programs in French suburbs, which has attracted criticism.[40]

In November 2012, QIA and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti signed the starting agreement of IQ Made in Italy Venture, a four-year cooperation to promote Made in Italy in Qatar's Arabic partners and to push them to invest in Italian economic sectors like fashion, luxury, design, food, tourism, lifestyle & leisure.[42][43][44]

In January 2013, Qatar Holding, an indirect subsidiary of QIA, said it would invest $5 billion into petrochemical projects in Malaysia in three to four years. The investment was said to help Malaysia compete with neighbouring Singapore to become the region's top petrochemical hub.[45] The QIA was planning to invest $200 million in residential property in India through Kotak Realty Fund in late December 2013.[46] In August 2018, Qatar Investment Authority signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to invest up to $500mn in tourism in Indonesia.[47]

In October 2014 Qatar Investment Authority signed an agreement with CITIC Group Corp to launch a $10 billion fund to invest in China.[48] The QIA announced its intention to invest $35b in the US during the next five years, starting in September 2015.[49][50][51]

Via Mannai Corporation, it is currently in a process of acquiring the French computer science group GFI.[52] In 2021, QIA with its subsidiary unit - Locus Engineering Management and Services Co. W.L.L. is investing in a sub-Saharan African renewable energy platform being led by Enel Green Power.[53]

During the 2021 St Petersburg Economic Forum, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani highlighted Qatar's solid historic relations with Russia and announced that his country will increase investments in the Russian Federation. He also called on Russia's private sector and the world to explore Qatar's promising business environment in many projects and several spheres.[54] In March 2021, QIA became a minority investor in Coveo, the cloud-based search, recommendations, and personalization company.[55]

On 23 January 2023, Qatar Investment Authority has doubled its stake in Credit Suisse Group, becoming the second-biggest shareholder and underlining the growing importance of Middle Eastern investors to the ailing Swiss bank.[56][57]

In May 2023, London (United Kingdom) based and Sachin Dev Duggal-led Builder.ai received $250 million in series D funding, led by the QIA.[58][59][60]

In June 2024, Reuters wrote that QIA had agreed to buy a 10% stake in ChinaAMC and was awaiting approval by Chinese regulators.[61]

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Real estate investments

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The QIA real estate portfolio includes direct ownership, joint ventures,[62] trusts and funds.[63] It wholly controls Qatari Diar, a property investment company,[64] and also owns Katara Hospitality, a global hotel owner, developer and operator.[65]

In 2013, QIA acquired a 40% stake in the Porta Nuova business district in Milan,[66] later purchasing the remaining interest in 2015.[67]

QIA has purchased $3.78 billion in Manhattan properties since 2014, including 111 West 33rd Street, 501 Seventh Avenue and 250 West 57th Street.[68] In 2015, in a joint venture with Brookfield Property Partners, QIA acquired a 44% stake in the Manhattan West development.[69][70][71] In 2022, QIA and Brookfield sold a 49% shareholding in the project to Blackstone Real Estate.[72]

QIA and Brookfield jointly acquired Canary Wharf Group for £2.6 billion.[73][74] The Canary Wharf Group is London's largest property owner, with almost 21.5m sq ft of space on its books, according to data from the research firm Datscha.[75]

QIA has also made investments in Asia Square in Singapore[76][77] and the HSBC Tower in London.[74] In 2016, QIA purchased a 9.9% stake in Empire State Realty Trust.[78]

QIA has held a 20% stake in Inmobiliaria Colonial since 2018.[79] In August 2018, Brookfield signed a 99-year lease on Jared Kushner's financially troubled 666 Fifth Avenue skyscraper. The deal raised suspicions that the Qatar Investment Authority, a major investor in Brookfield, was attempting to influence the Trump administration.[80][81]

In 2019, QIA partnered with Crown Acquisitions to acquire a significant stake in Vornado Realty Trust, a portfolio of premium New York retail properties.[82]

QIA also owns luxury hotels including the St. Regis San Francisco,[83] the St. Regis New York,[84] and the W Barcelona.[85] In 2023, it acquired the Park Lane Hotel in New York.[86]

Qatari Diar

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Logo of Qatari Diar

Qatari Diar is a real estate company established by the Qatar Investment Authority in 2005 with headquarters in Lusail.[26]

In 2008, Qatari Diar acquired French engineering company Cegelec,[87] which was later sold, in 2010, to Vinci SA in exchange for 31.5 million Vinci shares.[88]

By 2011 the company had stakes in the utility Suez Environnement and in Veolia Environnement (4.6%, sold in 2018).[89] In 2011, Qatari Diar bought the Port Tarraco Marina in Tarragona, Spain.[90][91] The company invested into The Shard, a skyscraper in London designed by Renzo Piano,[92][93] and the former Royal Dutch Shell plc headquarters.[94] Other London investments include the Chelsea Barracks,[95] the US Embassy, Elephant and Castle and Grosvenor Waterside.[96]

In 2012, it completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse's headquarters in London.[97] Qatari Diar along with Canary Wharf, won a £300mn deal to redevelop the Shell Centre in London, the former London headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell.[98]

As of 2013, Qatari Diar was one of the major financiers of a recent development known as CityCenterDC, as it invested $650 million into the project.[99][100] Qatari Diar also invested into The Peninsula Paris hotel.[101]

In April 2023, the company sold its 22 per cent stake in the build-to-rent developer Get Living, which owns the publicly funded Olympic village also known as East Village, London.[102] Qatari Diar sold its shares to Aware Super, an Australian pension fund.[102]

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Recent developments

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Harrods

British luxury department store Harrods was purchased by Qatar in May 2010.[103][104] The sale was concluded in the early hours of 8 May, when Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani came to London to finalise the deal, saying that the acquisition of Harrods would add "much value" to the investment portfolio of Qatar Holdings while his deputy, Hussain Ali Al-Abdulla, called it a "landmark transaction".[105] A spokesman for Mohamed Al-Fayed said "in reaching the decision to retire, [Fayed] wished to ensure that the legacy and traditions that he has built up in Harrods would be continued."[105]

Heathrow Airport

Qatar Investment Authority is a major shareholder in Heathrow Airport, holding 20 percent of the airport. In 2017, the company invested a further £650 million (US$807 million).[106]

Volkswagen

Bloomberg estimated that in September 2015 Qatar Investment Authority lost $5.9 billion on paper from its stakes in Volkswagen and Glencore after the carmaker admitted to using an illegal software to cheat on emissions tests in the U.S.[107] By holding 17% of Volkswagen's ordinary stock and 13% of preferred shares, Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund is the third largest investor shareholder in the firm.[107][108]

QIA is also the largest investor in Glencore (8.2%), a mining company.

Barclays

Since 2008 dealings between Qatar Holding LLC and Barclays were investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for suspicious cash-raising practices during the 2008 financial crisis.[109] Allegedly, Barclays received €7.5 billion ($8.2 billion) cash injection from QIA's subsidiary but did not inform its shareholders.[109] Barclays was charged with failing to act with integrity and breaching disclosure rules for UK listed companies.[110]

Moreover, in 2011 both the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigated Barclays' €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) secret transaction with a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) from Qatar whose identity remains protected by the financial giant and FCA.[110] In that case, Barclays failed to conduct "due skill, care, and diligence" at the base of Britain's anti-money laundering rules.[111] As a result, the UK financial watchdog meted out a record €92 million ($104 million) penalty against the financial giant.[111]

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Controversies

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Sunday Telegraph's campaign

In October 2007 the British newspaper Sunday Telegraph launched a two-month long campaign, called "Stop the Funding of Terrorism", to stress Qatar's persistent negligence in countering terrorist finance and actively supporting terrorist entities and enterprises in the Middle East.[112]

On 14 June 2020, The Telegraph apologized for claiming the Qatar Charity (QC), as a terrorist organization.[113] The Telegraph admitted that, there is no evidence to support the claim that the Qatar charity or its trustees currently support or have ever funded any terrorist or extremist group. Qatar Charity's categorization as a terrorist organization had "no legal standing in the UK," according to the Charity Commission, which also verified that it has no open cases involving Nectar. We apologized to provide clarification and extend our apologies to Qatar Charity and its trustees for any inconvenience or embarrassment caused.[114]

Qatar denied the Telegraph's claims. Qatar stated that being a Muslim investment authority did not necessarily mean they supported ISIL.[115] The nation already agreed to stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, expelled Brothers who were not citizens from its territory, and would not shelter any people from GCC countries in order to avoid undermining relations with the Gulf during the period of 2014–2017, when Qatar appeared to be in compliance with counter terrorism and destroying its support to Islamist rebel groups.[116] On 27 March 2022, during the Fourth High-Level Strategic Dialogue between the State of Qatar & the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT), Qatar was entitled as the second largest donor to the United Nations Trust Fund for Counter terrorism out of a total 35 other donors.[117]

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB)

Qatar Investment Authority's affiliation with Qatar Islamic Bank (16.67%) raises concerns about the extent to which the sovereign wealth fund may be or have been involved in some of the bank's activities. In a September 2015 piece, the Consortium Against Terrorist Finance (CATF) discussed the Sharia-compliant financial giant's correspondents and posited that several QIB's correspondents "have controversial histories of affiliation with or support of terrorist or extremist activities".[118] According to US Department of States country reports on terrorism 2019, the Qatari government drafted new AML/CFT legislation, which was finalized and passed into law on 11 September 2019. This legislation included the country forming National Anti-Terrorism Committee. The NATC is tasked with formulating Qatar's Counter Terrorism policy, ensuring inter agency coordination, fulfilling Qatar's obligations to counter terrorism under international conventions, and participating in multilateral conferences on terrorism. According to this reporting, U.S. officials met regularly with the chairman of the NATC to discuss implementation of the CT MOU and overall CT cooperation.

Also, the Qatar State Security Bureau (SSB) maintained an aggressive posture toward monitoring internal terrorism-related activities. Qatar is also a member of the Defeat-ISIS Coalition's CIFG and the TFTC. The country co-hosted a high-level event promoting the power of sport to prevent and counter terrorist radicalization and recruitment on the margins of UN General Assembly in September 2019.[119]

There has also been findings regarding counter terrorism measure taken by Qatar in the report published by United Nations on 27 March 2022, during the Fourth High-Level Strategic Dialogue between the State of Qatar & the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) where the two bodies discussed strategic priorities and collaboration for effective United Nations support to Member States on counter-terrorism. The two sides reaffirmed their strong partnership and discussed opportunities for further collaboration against terrorism. The State of Qatar is the second largest contributor to the United Nations Trust Fund for Counter-Terrorism out of a total 35 other donors.[120]

Builder.ai

In 2025, British startup Builder.ai announced bankruptcy proceedings after a controversy involving Indian workers acting as AI bots under a false product scam. Builder.AI had secured $250 million dollars of investment from QIA, years prior.[121]

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See also

References

External links

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