Among the largest sovereign wealth funds, oil- and gas-related revenues account for just less than 57% of total assets, including four of the top five funds largest by assets, derive their assets from their energy industry. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global sits atop the list with $885 billion in assets.
While Norway is not a member of OPEC, the fund will be directly impacted by the meeting results. The fund has been faced with budget shortfalls due to lower revenues and low investment returns; its oil production has approached five-year highs during 2016………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A unit of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional is selling around USD80 million worth of shares in Indian private lender IDFC Bank, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Sipadan Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, the Khazanah arm, is selling about 80.4 million shares in IDFC Bank in a block trade, with a price range of 68.25 rupees to 71.10 rupees apiece, the term sheet showed. The deal will be priced on Wednesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The New Zealand Super Fund’s reinsurance allocation remained stable at about $200mn in 2016. In its annual report, the sovereign wealth fund disclosed an NZ$75mn ($53mn) allocation to Elementum Advisors and a NZ$213mn investment with Leadenhall Capital Partners as at 30 June, around the same level it had invested with the funds at the same point last year.
The reinsurance and life settlements allocation represented 2.4 percent of its total NZ$30.1bn portfolio as of June………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Queensland Investment Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic co-operation with one of China’s biggest asset managers — Ping An Asset Management Company — to tap the rapid growth in Chinese investment capital.
This is the first time QIC has entered into a MOU with a Chinese asset manager, although it has led a consortium that includes China’s $200bn sovereign wealth fund CIC to win the Port of Melbourne bid in September………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GPT Group’s acquisitive wholesale office fund is in talks to boost its interest in Brisbane landmark One One One Eagle Street with a play that could leave it with a two-thirds stake in the near $900 million tower in train.
The project won the backing of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and it, GPT, and its wholesale fund each held one-third stakes. he unlisted trust is now believed to be exercising an option over the ADIA interest, but the manager declined to comment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund said Monday that it will acquire a 50% stake in an investment company led by Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar. The deal comes after Adeptio AD Investments SPC Ltd. last month completed the purchase of a majority stake in Kuwait’s Americana, one of the Middle East’s largest operators of fast-food chains including KFC, TGI Friday’s Inc. and Pizza Hut.
The Public Investment Fund said the transaction is part of a plan to “increase investment in non-oil sectors and build a portfolio that has greater geographical and asset class diversification.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s top sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), plans to buy a major stake in Adeptio, the Gulf-based investment firm which controls Kuwait Food Co (Americana) , the PIF said on Monday.
The PIF would buy 50 percent of Adeptio from United Arab Emirates-based billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, who would keep the rest of Adeptio. It did not give financial details of the deal. Last month, a subsidiary of Adeptio completed the acquisition of a 67 percent stake in Americana from the Kharafis, a wealthy Kuwaiti merchant family, for about $2.35 billion. Adeptio now plans a mandatory tender offer for remaining shares in Americana held by public shareholders………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund said Monday that it will acquire a 50% stake in an investment company led by Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar. The deal comes after Adeptio AD Investments SPC Ltd. last month completed the purchase of a majority stake in Kuwait’s Americana, one of the Middle East’s largest operators of fast-food chains including KFC, TGI Friday’s Inc. and Pizza Hut.
The Public Investment Fund said the transaction is part of a plan to “increase investment in non-oil sectors and build a portfolio that has greater geographical and asset class diversification.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Officials in Qatar and Spain are reportedly mulling the creation of a $1 billion joint investment fund – and a meeting is being scheduled for next year to progress the plans. Spanish ambassador to Qatar, Ignacio Escobar, told Gulf Times in an interview that a bilateral visit by Spanish officials to the Gulf state is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2017, and that the visit could include the signing of an agreement to establish the fund.
He declined to reveal detailed information about any such fund but told the newspaper that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund had previously expressed an interest in investing in Latin America – and that Spain was a “gateway to Latin America”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Continuing our assessment of Qatar’s economic diversification in Gulf Times, the creation by the Qatari government of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, in 2005 is a reflection of Qatar’s strategic view of how to shape its economic future as well as its capacity to operate in the global financial markets.
With assets estimated to be around $300bn, QIA’s prime objective is to achieve revenue diversification and to minimise risk from Qatar’s reliance on energy prices. Through the QIA, its subsidiary Qatari Diar, and other funds such as Qatar Foundation Endowment and Qatar Sports Investment, investing once massive surpluses of oil and gas revenues in a manner that supports the long-term prospects of the economy of Qatar has been a priority for the government………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s biggest pension fund is under pressure to sell its interest in the Spanish company holding the biggest contract to run Australia’s offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru. The Australia Institute claims the pension fund’s investment in Ferrovial is at odds with its commitment to high ethical standards and is not widely known in Norway.
It is mounting a social media campaign in Australia and Norway to convince investors to sign an open letter imploring the pension fund, known as Oljefondet, to divest………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GIC has hired a big data expert as it expands computer-driven investments through a quantitative group started earlier this year. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund appointed Mr Michael Recce in the newly created role of chief data scientist last month to work in the GIC Data and Analytics Department, according to a spokesman.
Mr Recce, a former associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is focusing on collecting publicly available data and analysing them for patterns………………………………………..Full Article: Source

That the announcement of various changes to the leadership team at GIC - including the elevation of Mr Lim Chow Kiat to chief executive - caused barely a stir speaks of the confidence the general public has in the sovereign wealth fund’s ability to continue managing Singapore’s foreign reserves ably.
Yet the leadership changes come at a critical juncture. The global investment climate is challenging as economic growth languishes, something that GIC acknowledged in its recent results. Its key benchmark - the 20-year annualised real rate of return - has fallen to 4 per cent from the 4.9 per cent reported the previous year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, has completed the largest European property deal of the year so far with the acquisition of warehouse developer, P3 Logistics Parks for 2.4 billion euros (US$2.7 billion).
P3 Logistics, based in the Czech Republic, is one of Europe’s largest fully integrated logistics platforms and developers” with 163 “high-quality” warehouses across nine countries on the continent. Acquired from U.S.-based TPG Real Estate and its Canadian partner Ivanhoe Cambridge, the purchase is GIC’s first foray into the European logistics market following significant investment into platforms across Asia Pacific and the U.S………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Following the demonetisation exercise and clampdown on counterfeit notes and black money, ‘Invest India’ — the government’s investment promotion & facilitation agency — has been flooded with queries from foreign pension funds and Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) regarding locations and sectors to invest in the country.
Encouraged by this trend, ‘Invest India’ has decided to set up a dedicated team of experts by mid-December this year to cater to the needs of SWFs (which are state-owned investment entities) and foreign public and private pension funds, to attract mega investments into India, Invest India’s Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Deepak Bagla told The Hindu………………………………………..Full Article: Source

South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) will invest 153 billion won ($130.8 million) in seven hotels in major cities in the United States with Local Finance Association (LOFA) on expectations for growth in the U.S. economy under the new U.S. administration in 2017.
According to multiple sources from the investment bank industry on Monday, KIC and LOFA, a provider of financial aid to local governments in Korea, have decided to jointly invest 153 billion won in seven hotels in major U.S. locations including Arizona, California and Texas………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., Juneau, returned 3.86% for the quarter ended Sept. 30, ahead of its 3.51% performance benchmark, said a news release from the $54.8 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Strong equity returns, particularly in emerging markets, helped drive the overall return, the news release said. International stocks returned 7.86% for the quarter, followed by U.S. stocks at 5.76%; global stocks, 5.61%; special opportunity, 4.72%; private equity, 2.89%; real estate, 2.56%; absolute return, 2.27%; non-U.S. bonds, 1.83%; public and private credit, 1.29%; U.S. bonds, 1.2%; infrastructure and other real assets, 0.31%; and private markets OCIOs/real-return allocations, -0.6%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) will invest €30m into the country’s largest non-bank lender, Finance Ireland. The €8bn sovereign wealth fund has “conditionally agreed” to take a 32% stake, according to a statement from Finance Ireland, and will nominate two directors for the lender’s board.
Last year, PIMCO bought a similar stake in the company through a private equity vehicle it runs. Finance Ireland lends to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture, motor and commercial real estate sectors………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Azerbaijan’s state oil fund SOFAZ, which accumulates and manages oil and gas revenues of the resource-rich country, is projected to get some $100 billion from the sale of oil and gas in the next 15-20 years.
SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov, addressing a banking conference in Baku on November 24, said that regardless a significant drop in oil prices, the country continues production and export of oil, therefore it will further receive oil revenues. He noted that the Fund has so far received some $120 billion of oil revenues………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has hired HSBC to advise it on a potential purchase of a stake in ACWA Power, a developer and operator of power and water plants, sources close to the matter said.
Riyadh-based ACWA Power has chosen JP Morgan to advise it on the process, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public, said. Saudia Arabia aims to expand the PIF into the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund as part of economic reforms prompted by lower oil prices. As a result, it has been linked with or completed a number of domestic and overseas asset purchases in the past few months………………………………….Full Article: Source

The government is seeking to set up an investment holding company next year for government shareholdings, part of a wider effort to improve the performance of state enterprises. A law to boost the governance of such firms and enable the creation of the holding company may be enacted by March, according to Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the director general of the State Enterprise Policy Office.
“We’d like the holding company to work in an efficient way like Temasek or Khazanah,” Mr Ekniti said in an interview in Bangkok on Wednesday, referring respectively to Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte and Malaysia’s sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd………………………………….Full Article: Source

Thailand is seeking to set up an investment holding company next year for government shareholdings, part of a wider effort to improve the performance of state-controlled enterprises.
A law to boost the governance of such firms and enable the creation of the holding company may be enacted by March, according to Mr Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the director general of the State Enterprise Policy Office………………………………….Full Article: Source

Forty thousand people wearing yellow shirts gathered in Malaysia’s capital on November 19th, to protest against corruption and impunity in government. The rally was orderly and restrained; the response of the authorities was not. On the eve of the protest, police arrested Maria Chin Abdullah, leader of a coalition of human-rights groups that organised the event.
She was placed in solitary confinement, and can be held there for 28 days. Even by Malaysia’s dismal recent standards this marked a fresh low. Ordinary Malaysians should not stand by while their leaders undermine the rule of law so casually………………………………….Full Article: Source

As millions took to the streets throughout North Africa during the Arab Spring of 2011, the Kingdom of Morocco, untouched but not unshaken, devised a plan to revamp the country’s infrastructure and promote tourism.
That year the government launched the $1.8 billion Moroccan Fund for Tourism Development. It also asked for help from a who’s who of Gulf sovereign wealth funds - the Kuwait Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co., Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the Qatar Investment Authority - with combined assets estimated to top $1 trillion…………………………………Full Article: Source

The affirmation primarily reflects Moody’s views that 1) the fundamental credit profile of KIC continues to reflect the company’s profitable business model, access to low cost deposits and a low level of net debt to equity, strengths that are counterbalanced by its high exposure to market risk, high level of debt compared to earnings and narrow asset management franchise, and that 2) KIC’s main shareholder, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), will remain supportive of KIC during the planned divestiture process.
The stable outlook on KIC’s rating reflects Moody’s expectation that the divestiture process will take longer than expected and will likely not conclude before the end of 2017…………………………………Full Article: Source

New Zealand Super Fund senior investment strategist Sue Brake has left the NZ$31.6 (AU$29.5) billion sovereign wealth fund to join Willis Towers Watson as a senior investment consultant. Brake is bucking a trend that has seen consultants, such as Leigh Gavin and Robb Hogg, move to in-house roles with institutional investors over the past two years reflecting the trend for more super funds to increase their internal capacities.
Director of investments for Willis Towers Watson in Australia, Martin Goss said Brake has specialist experience in organisational design and governance, strategy and portfolio construction. Brake has also worked as an external expert to the International Monetary Fund, advising nations on the establishment and the management of sovereign wealth funds…………………………………Full Article: Source

The Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) has an estimated US$350bn (€321bn) of assets – although others with knowledge of the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) believe the figure to be substantially higher.
What is certain is that GIC, the eighth largest SWF according to the SWF Institute, is big and so has needed to be innovative over the years to deploy its capital effectively. GIC has often been a trendsetter. In real estate, for example, the fund moved into student housing in 2007, before it became established as an institutional asset class. Today, global investors are vying to build portfolios in the sector…………………………………Full Article: Source

Lim Chow Kiat has been appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund (SWF) GIC Private Ltd (GIC), effective from January 1, 2017. Lim is currently the deputy group president and group chief investment officer (CIO) at the SWF. “As I take on this bigger role, I will continue to be guided by the values of our pioneers, particularly that of long-termism,” the new CEO told Singapore’s Business Times.
Lim joined GIC in 1993 as a portfolio manager upon graduation at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. He was then promoted to head of fixed income, currency and commodities, before becoming deputy president of GIC Asset Management in 2008…………………………………Full Article: Source

US President Barack Obama alluded to the 1MDB case during his speech at the Lima Convention Centre, in Peru, on Nov 20, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today. In talking about the need to improve and maintain the world order, Obama said everyone had to do their part as there were limits to the reach of the US into other countries which oppressed their people or “siphon all development funds into Swiss bank accounts because they are corrupt”.
Obama, however, did not mention 1MDB or Malaysia. In his latest blog posting, Mahathir said Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was also there, “must have heard it…………………………………Full Article: Source

The Norwegian wealth fund’s chief investment officer for asset strategies, Oeyvind Schanke, is to leave the fund to head Norwegian investment fund Skagen, Skagen said in a statement on Tuesday.
Schanke had been in his current position since Oct. 2014, joining the fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund in 2001 as a trader. He will begin at Skagen on Feb. 1 2017, said the statement………………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is set to lose one of its most senior investment executives, as Øyvind Schanke becomes the new chief executive at the country’s best-known active investment manager.
Schanke has been with Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the $858 billion sovereign fund, since 2001 and was promoted to chief investment officer for asset strategies in 2014; a role giving him broad oversight of the fund’s equity and fixed income portfolios………………………………………Full Article: Source

Rising political risk exemplified by such events as the election of Donald Trump and the U.K. vote to leave the European Union will be boon to managers that make active choices when managing their bond and stock portfolio, said the incoming chief executive officer of Norway’s Skagen Funds.
“The time has come again to think active management,” Oyvind Schanke, who’s currently one of three chief investment officers at Norway’s $850 billion sovereign wealth fund, said in a phone interview from Stavanger. “We’re getting to a crossroads here, with more and more opportunities. The more money that goes into passive management, the bigger opportunities for very active funds like Skagen.”……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has appointed a new Chief Executive Officer and calibrated its management structure both in Singapore and overseas. With effect from 1 January 2017, Lim Chow Kiat will take on the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is currently the Deputy Group President and the Group Chief Investment Officer.
Current Group President Lim Siong Guan will retire, and be appointed Advisor to the GIC Group Executive Committee on 1 January 2017………………………………………Full Article: Source

Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek has sold its entire 10 percent stake in state backed CITIC Resources. The shares were sold to Singaporean private equity fund TIHT Investment at HK$1.235 each, CITIC Resources said in a filing to the local exchange with the acquisition cost is estimated at HK$971 million.
CITIC Resources said Temasek will cease to be a shareholder while TIHT is to become a substantial shareholder. One fourth or 25 percent of Temesek’s portfolio was in China as of March 31, its published review shows. In 2015, it was 27 percent………………………………………Full Article: Source

Yeo Jiawei, a former BSI banker had amassed S$26m ($14.7m) in the 15 months after he left the Swiss private bank in Singapore, a court was told on Tuesday (22 November). Prior to that, Yeo’s net worth was only S$2m.
Prosecutors claim that the wealth Yeo had amassed came through funds earned via “illicit means” and the “taking of secret profits” in transactions linked to the Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)………………………………………Full Article: Source

The only way former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei could earn $23.9 million in less than 15 months was by taking “secret profits” linked to a money-laundering scam involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), prosecutors contended.
The allegations came on the final day of Yeo’s 12-day trial on four charges of obstructing justice. District Judge Ng Peng Hong will deliver the verdict on Dec 21. The prosecution’s cross-examination of Yeo focused on the “illicit” wealth he allegedly accumulated during and after leaving BSI………………………………….Full Article: Source

One of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds has chosen a new chief executive as it braces for a decade of lower earnings. GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, has hired Lim Chow Kiat to be its new boss, overseeing $100bn in assets spanning 40 countries.
Lim is an old hand at the organisation, joining after he graduated from university in 1993 and most recently serving as deputy president and chief investment officer…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte has appointed Lim Chow Kiat as chief executive officer as part of a leadership transition that includes new roles for several managers.
Lim, 46, will assume the newly created CEO role effective Jan. 1 and Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, 50, will replace him as group chief investment officer, GIC said in an e-mailed statement. Lim Siong Guan, 69, will retire as group president and be appointed adviser to the GIC group executive committee…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The appointment of seasoned investor Lim Chow Kiat as the chief executive officer of GIC comes as the Singapore sovereign wealth fund is facing a slower rate of returns. And a range of challenges lies ahead for Mr Lim, given the increasing volatility across the world.
“We still don’t really know what the fallout from Brexit is going to be like, and we are still speculating about the impact of a Trump presidency on global markets, including Singapore,” said CIMB Private Bank economist Song Seng Wun…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Canadian investment shop Brookfield Asset Management got one over on Stephen Schwarzman and his Blackstone Group beating out the US-based firm to acquire the International Finance Centre Seoul from AIG Global Real Estate. The bid, which is said to be backed by sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation, has been valued at $2.7 billion.
The mixed-use IFC Seoul complex features three high-rise office towers, a three-level retail mall, and the five-star Conrad Seoul hotel and is located in Yeouido, one of the city’s business hubs. AIG put the complex up for sale earlier this year with Singapore’s Ascendas also in the mix to purchase the project…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mediacorp Pte, the broadcaster owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte, is considering a sale of its data center unit 1-Net, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company is inviting suitors to submit non-binding bids for the business, which could fetch about $200 million, according to the people. A sale could take place next year, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Auditor General’s (AG) report on troubled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) will continue to be sealed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Azalina pointed out that the AG’s report on 1MDB is specially for the use of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). “The report has been discussed by the PAC before the finalisation [of] the PAC report on the management of 1MDB that has been tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2016,” she wrote…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kirill Dmitriev hails likely business opportunities. The head of a leading Russian sovereign wealth fund has hailed Donald Trump’s election victory as a new opportunity for Moscow to do business with the US.
“We believe having a businessman in the White House who makes pragmatic decisions is very important,” Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, told the Financial Times in an interview. “We believe what is great about president-elect Trump is that he is open-minded about Russia.”……………………………………Full Article: Source

Arms purchases will not be cut, Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said to the members of the State Duma when the 3-years Federal Budget for 2017-2019 was approve last Friday, TASS news agency reports.
“Spending on defense is one of the priorities, the volume of purchases of arms and military equipment is not reduced despite all the difficulties,” Siluanov said. The budget envisages a budget deficit of 3,2% of GDP next year while 2019 will se a 2,1% growth…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) is unlikely to be the main financial source for the budget of Azerbaijan. Presenting State Budget 2017, the Ministry of Finance of Azerbaijan reported that the transfer to the budget from SOFAZ will reduce from AZN 7.615 bn to AZN 6.1 bn, and the Ministry of Taxes, revenues from which are expected to increase from AZN 7.01 bn up to AZN 7.21 bn will be ahead of it on the significance for the State Budget.
The State Customs Committee will remain the third most important financial source. It is expected to increase charge from AZN 1.8 bn up to AZN 2.2 bn…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Trinidad and Tobago’s sovereign wealth fund, the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF), fell 5.7 per cent on poor choices (negative security selection effects) and the US$377.5 million withdrawal by Finance Minister Colm Imbert in May, the latest report from the HSF showed on Friday.
“The total net asset value of the Fund as at the end of June 2016 was US$5,454.6 million, compared with US$5,787.3 million at the end of the previous quarter. Of this total, the investment portfolio was valued at US$5,452.7 million, while the remaining portion (US$1.9 million) was held in cash to meet the day-to-day expenses that arise from the management of the Fund,” the report said…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), its main sovereign wealth fund, announced on Thursday it had filled key posts as part of plans to expand investment capacity and help reduce the kingdom’s dependence on oil income.
Under economic reform plans announced early this year, the government has said it aims eventually to expand the PIF, founded in 1971 to finance development projects in the country, from $160 billion to about $2 trillion and increase investments abroad. The PIF did not name the people it had appointed, but LinkedIn profiles showed at least five financial professionals had begun working at the Fund in the last several weeks……………………………………Full Article: Source

Turkey has established its Sovereign Wealth Fund (Türkiye Varlık Fonu) and the Turkish Sovereign Wealth Fund Management Incorporation (Türkiye Varlık Fonu Yönetimi Anonim Şirketi), its asset management company. On November 9, the Council of Ministers’ decree regarding the Asset Manager’s operating principles(Decree) was published in the Official Gazette.
The resources of the Sovereign Fund are: The institutions and assets within the scope of the privatization program, as well as the Privatization Fund’s excess cash that the High Board of Privatization agrees to transfer to the Sovereign Fund; Surplus income, resources and assets at the disposition of public institutions and organizations that the Council of Ministers decides to transfer to the Sovereign Fund;…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Authorities in London have approved Qatari Diar’s plans to convert the erstwhile US embassy building in Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square into a luxury hotel. The firm, which is the property development arm of sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, bought the listed building in 2009.
The United States of America will move its diplomatic presence from the site to Vauxhall. The plans approved by Westminster Council, will see two new floors added to the listed building, with floor space nearly doubling to 45,000m2……………………………………Full Article: Source

Analysts are predicting that Middle East sovereign wealth funds will continue to buy big chunks of real estate in America’s biggest cities despite Donald Trump’s election victory. Over the past year, the funds, which have traditionally invested in high-profile London buildings such as the Shard and the Berkeley Square estate, have moved much of their buying appetite to North America and Asia following the Brexit vote.
But property advisers say that Mr Trump’s victory will not have the same effect. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which already owns stakes in Europe’s tallest building, The Shard, the Canary Wharf Estate, Harrods and the Olympic Park in London, said that it had bought a 9.9 per cent stake in Empire State Realty Trust, acquiring 29.6 million shares in the group at $21 each……………………………………Full Article: Source