Mubadala Investment Company is the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund.

Pandemic or not, famed sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company kept a stream of investments flowing into technology, life sciences, consumer goods, and other growth sectors during 2020. In fact, as a strategy, the fund stepped up its investment to $29 billion from $18.5 billion in 2019. (CIO)

Much like Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi wants to reduce its dependence on oil, and Mubadala, therefore, is diversifying its investments across the globe.

Diversification

“In line with our long-term strategy, we increased our investments in sectors where we have high conviction, and with high performing fund managers,” Mubadala Managing Director and Group CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.

“Technology and life sciences, in particular, have been essential to the world over the last year, and we see those sectors bringing greater opportunity for deeper investment,” he added.

The fund had assets of US$243.4 billion (AED 894 billion) as at end-December, a record.

Mubadala earned $19.6 billion, the highest ever, in 2020 versus $14.4 billion in 2019.

The fund has returned 9.8% annually over the past five years.

Key investments in 2020

– AED 4.3 billion in Jio, an Indian telecom company

– AED 2.7 billion in Silver Lake, a leading global technology investor

– AED 3.0 billion in Reliance Retail, one of India’s fastest-growing consumer companies

– AED 2.2 billion in PCI Pharma, a leading global pharma services supplier

– AED 7.5 billion through partnerships with CVC, Citadel, iSquared Capital, and Apax Partners

The fund also said it took advantage of record low-interest rates and strong investor demand for its bonds to bring down the cost and average span of its borrowings.

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