Qatar eyes sports and fintech amid investment shake-up – Doha News
QIA’s CEO also stated that despite the uproar surrounding the American billionaire’s takeover of Twitter Inc., the fund supports Elon Musk’s vision for the company.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is looking for opportunities in venture capital, fintech and sustainability, a top official said.
The Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund is looking at investments across Europe, Asia and the US, targeting various industries, QIA CEO Mansoor Al Mahmoud said during an interview with Bloomberg Television in Davos.
“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.”
Despite a decline in global deal volume and a reduction in bank lending for acquisitions last year, sovereign wealth funds from the GCC remained active buyers.
To support RWE AG’s acquisition of US renewables assets, QIA decided to invest 2.4 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in the German utility in October. It has also invested in a number of technology startups and was a key investor in the initial public offering of sports car maker Porsche AG.
QIA, which is known for its preference for “trophy assets”, backed lenders such as Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse Group AG during the 2008 financial crisis. While a recent focus on privately held technology companies has brought it to emerging markets, rising energy costs are giving it even more motivation to return to large-scale transactions.
Investing in financial institutions “will always be a theme for us” as they remain a “very important pillar” of QIA’s portfolio, Al Mahmoud added. “We are also expanding into fintech.”
After Qatar hosted the World Cup, the fund is also thinking about investing in soccer clubs, according to Al Mahmoud, but it has not decided whether to go ahead with any particular investment.
“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.”
Bloomberg News previously reported that Qatar is pursuing elite Premier League clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur. QIA already owns the Champions League club Paris Saint-Germain through a subsidiary.
Separately, Al Mahmoud stated that despite the uproar surrounding the American billionaire’s takeover of Twitter Inc., the fund supports Elon Musk’s vision for the company.
“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.
Since the fund is not involved “to that extent,” according to the QIA, the Twitter chief has not been asked to minimize tweeting.
“He has our trust and we are sure he would handle it very professionally.”
