Mansoor Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
The head of Qatar’s $450 billion sovereign wealth fund said it will use the current economic turmoil as an opportunity to rebalance its portfolio and is considering investments in football, financial institutions and technology. The Qatar Investment Authority is looking for opportunities in Europe, Asia and the United States in sectors such as venture capital, fintech and sustainability, CEO Mansoor Ebrahim al-Mahmoud said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Davos on Monday. The World Economic Forum (WEF) returns to the resort during the winter for the first time in three years this week. “It is a challenging time. Inflation is the main theme of the global economy, he said. “We see this as an opportunity to reposition our portfolio. We are highlighting the weaknesses we have in our portfolio, and we are waiting for such corrections in the market to fulfill the weaknesses we have.” Sovereign wealth funds from the oil-rich Gulf region continued to be active buyers last year, even as global deal volumes fell and banks cut bank lending for acquisitions. QIA agreed in October to invest 2.4 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in RWE AG to support the German energy company’s purchase of U.S. renewable assets. It was also a cornerstone investor in sports car brand Porsche AG’s IPO and has invested in a number of tech startups. QIA backed lenders such as Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG during the 2008 financial crisis. While a recent focus on closely held technology companies has led it to emerging markets, soaring energy prices are adding fuel to the return to big-ticket deals. Financial institutions are still a “very important pillar” in the portfolio, and investing in them “will always be a topic for us. We are also moving into fintech, he said. Following the successful hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the fund is also considering investing in football clubs, but has not decided whether to pull the trigger on any specific investment, al-Mahmoud said. “This is a very commercially driven decision,” he said. “Sport is becoming a very important topic as well; people are more engaged in sports and digitization makes it more attractive to investors.” Qatar already owns Champions League club Paris Saint-Germain through Qatar Sports Investments. Separately, al-Mahmoud said the fund supports Elon Musk’s vision for Twitter Inc, despite the turmoil that came with the takeover. “We engage with management, with Elon in terms of the plan that he has for the company, and we believe in this, and we trust his leadership in terms of turning the company around,” he said. The QIA has not asked the Twitter chief to cut back on tweeting, saying the fund is not involved “to that extent,” he said. “He has our trust and we are sure he would handle it very professionally.”
