Sovereign wealth funds adopt differing mandates based on a country’s macroeconomic profile and the government’s priorities. Saving for future generations – as is the case with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority or the Kuwait Investment Authority – is the widely adopted mandate. But more recently, governments have begun to leverage their funds to transform their economies by adding an economic development component to their fund’s mandate.
Consider the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has identified several economic development initiatives under its ‘Public Investment Fund Program 2018-2020’, prioritising maximising the value of PIF’s investments in Saudi companies; launching and developing new sectors; developing real estate and infrastructure projects and companies; and undertaking giga-project initiatives (developments costing more than $10 billion).
One reason why countries establish sovereign wealth funds is to both professionalise and institutionalise the way the sovereign invests and manages its wealth. With this in mind, the combination of a strong governance framework and a highly experienced investment team are integral for success.
When pursuing an economic development agenda, sovereign wealth fund investment professionals have a complex dual role to fulfil: Not only are they instructed to look after and transform the existing portfolio, but they are also tasked with identifying, initiating and leading new investment opportunities.
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Transforming a direct investment portfolio occurs through various initiatives aimed at improving the performance of the portfolio companies or monetising some of them.
To improve performance, the critical first task is to implement best-in-class governance, often requiring the training or replacement of directors representing the sovereign wealth fund on the boards of portfolio companies. In turn, boards become more business savvy and gain more clarity on shareholders’ expectations, putting them in a stronger position to fulfil their fiduciary duties.
When the situation requires drastic actions (for example, when a direct investment operates at a significant loss), the fund needs to swiftly engage an external advisor to identify strategic options, then supervise the implementation of the selected strategy. Such drastic actions can be expedited when the sovereign wealth fund owns 100 per cent of the company or has the majority control of the board.
Portfolio transformation also occurs when the sovereign wealth fund decides to monetise one of its portfolio companies. This can occur for various reasons, such as the need for cash to re-invest into more promising opportunities, or the need to eliminate excessive downside risk. In the Middle East, the sale of a state asset often requires an intermediary step consisting of corporatising the entity. This process aims to transform state assets or government agencies into corporations with a legal structure and financial statements for the last three or five years. Going through this process is usually the first step towards a sale or an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
When it comes to new investment projects, sovereign wealth funds can operate in a structured approach.
New viable investment opportunities need to be built on a detailed understanding of the economic sectors and strengths of a country. Once a sector or opportunity of interest has been identified, a more in-depth study should be performed to confirm the opportunity, its profitability, landscape of potential partners, risks and employment potential of the project.
A compelling example is the concept for a downstream aluminum cluster pursued in Bahrain by its sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat. One of its portfolio companies, Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), is currently building a sixth smelter line that will add 500,000 metric tonnes of aluminum per year starting from 2019. In parallel, Mumtalakat is teaming up and co-investing with international partners to create joint ventures in Bahrain that will utilise this additional capacity while creating 2,000 new employment opportunities.
By developing a strong understanding of attractive sectors in a country or a region, sovereign wealth funds should be in a position to quickly form an opinion on an opportunity. If an established player from overseas or an adjacent country has a compelling business case for expanding in the Middle East or in the country of a SWF, then the SWF should engage with the potential partner to further assess the opportunity.
Funds with an economic development agenda represent a great opportunity to accelerate the development of their economy. Some African countries such as Angola (Fundo Soberano de Angola - 2012) and Nigeria (Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority - 2012) set up their sovereign wealth funds over the last decade and both have developmental components in their mandates.
Egypt passed a law in May 2018 to establish its own fund. One of the contemplated objectives for this fund is to manage state companies ahead of listing on a stock exchange. The PIF in KSA has a huge task ahead of itself as it is expected to play a major role in the stimulation of the Saudi Arabian economy.
The large and rapidly growing value of assets managed by sovereign wealth funds as well as the leadership expected of them in their countries’ economic transformation agendas is placing them in the public spotlight. It does not come as a surprise that citizens want to know how their public funds are being employed to their benefit.
In developed countries, governments have traditionally focused on the regulatory aspect of an industry, and then let the private sector flourish. On the contrary, in Middle East and other developing countries, significant industries have often emerged from the will of the government.
Sovereign wealth funds can be an effective tool to make this happen.
Damien Balmet is a principal at Mercer Investments in Dubai
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
WHY AAYAN IS 'PERFECT EXAMPLE'
David White might be new to the country, but he has clearly already built up an affinity with the place.
After the UAE shocked Pakistan in the semi-final of the Under 19 Asia Cup last month, White was hugged on the field by Aayan Khan, the team’s captain.
White suggests that was more a sign of Aayan’s amiability than anything else. But he believes the young all-rounder, who was part of the winning Gulf Giants team last year, is just the sort of player the country should be seeking to produce via the ILT20.
“He is a delightful young man,” White said. “He played in the competition last year at 17, and look at his development from there till now, and where he is representing the UAE.
“He was influential in the U19 team which beat Pakistan. He is the perfect example of what we are all trying to achieve here.
“It is about the development of players who are going to represent the UAE and go on to help make UAE a force in world cricket.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
The Iron Claw
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
Company profile
Name: Tabby
Founded: August 2019; platform went live in February 2020
Founder/CEO: Hosam Arab, co-founder: Daniil Barkalov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Payments
Size: 40-50 employees
Stage: Series A
Investors: Arbor Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Wamda Capital, STV, Raed Ventures, Global Founders Capital, JIMCO, Global Ventures, Venture Souq, Outliers VC, MSA Capital, HOF and AB Accelerator.
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