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around 350 billion dollars last year due to the global financial
crisis, according to a UN report. However, the funds -- those of Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi -- almost maintained their total
asset value at the end of 2008 after governments injected into them
huge returns from oil income, the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development ( UNCTAD) said in a report. The World Investment
Report 2009 , released last week, said that assets held by the four
Gulf funds dropped to 1.115 trillion dollars last year from 1.165
trillion dollars at the end of 2007 and that government injections of
300 billion dollars helped narrow their losses. Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority (ADIA) was the most affected, as it shed around 183
billion dollars from the 453 billion dollars it held in 2007. But
the government pumped 57 billion dollars into the fund, helping it
end last year at 329 billion dollars. Kuwait Investment Authority
(KIA), which owns stakes in Daimler and Citigroup, lost 94 billion
dollars from 262 billion dollars it held at the end of 2007. The
Kuwaiti government, however, injected 59 billion dollars, helping
the fund to stand at 228 billion dollars at the end of last year.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) lost 27 billion dollars and ended
at 66 billion dollars in 2008 , while Saudi assets, run by the Saudi
Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), valued at 501 billion dollars at
end-2008 , shed around 46 billion dollars, the report said. Gulf
SWFs have never disclosed the size of their assets nor losses. The
UNCTAD report said that in recent years Gulf SWFs have become more
proactive investors, entering riskier investments and targeting
strategic holdings in international companies. "The recent collapse
of real estate and equity markets has generated large losses for
SWFs, but it also offers investment opportunities," UNCTAD said. As
a result, some Gulf SWFs have become more cautious in investing
abroad and turned to investments in domestic economies. The four Gulf
states pump more than 13 million barrels of oil per day, just under
half of total Opec production of around 29 million bpd.
