On May 16, the Government of Qatar issued a rare Amiri decree to reorganize its SWF, allowing the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to take a more active role in the development of the local market and in the attraction of foreign direct investment. A day later, the fund announced the establishment of a US$ 275 million market-making program at the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), which is solely owned by the QIA.
In addition, Bloomberg reported that the QIA and the country’s pension fund, GRSIA, may be looking at consolidating some of their local stock holdings worth up to US$ 3 billion under a separate entity, which would hire third-party funds to actively manage and trade the shares, boosting activity in the overall market. As of December 2021, GRSIA managed US$ 31 billion almost entirely in domestic securities.
Qatar Central Bank manages an additional US$ 47 billion in official reserves, including US$ 5 billion in gold. In March, Governor Bandar Al Thani assumed the role of Chairman of QIA, arguably signaling a better alignment and coordination between both institutions and their balance sheets.
This week, QIA and Bloomberg are hosting the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in Doha. On Tuesday, Mansour Al Mahmoud confirmed the interest of the SWF to deploy more capital into public and private credit within the next 12 months, and to increase its allocation to emerging markets, including China, India, and Brazil, from 10% to 20%. QIA recently led a US$ 250 million Series D funding round for Builder.ai, confirming its continued bet on technology, too.
Right after Mansour’s panel, the QEF featured discussions with Feisal Zahir, Managing Director of Khazanah, and with Rohit Sipahimalani, CIO of Temasek, who confirmed the potential interest of the Singaporean investor in the broader Middle East region, seeking a balanced portfolio.
At the end of March, Fitch revised the outlook of Qatar from stable to positive, with a rating of AA-. The Emirate has the lowest breakeven point in the GCC and has largely benefited from the surge in oil prices of the past two years. In the aftermath of the World Cup, Doha is poised to maintain a tremendous growth – which will undoubtedly be supported by its Sovereign Investors.
