Mubadala eyeing new sectors for investments

Abu Dhabi: Mubadala Investment Company, one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world is looking at investing in new sectors such as technology, agribusiness and biotechnology to boost growth, its chief executive officer said in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

“From being a traditional investor, we have grown over the years by opening up new sectors. Certainly technology was a space we did not invest in 10 years ago. It was not a core business for us and we did not know how to invest in that space. Now we are and it’s a very important part of our growth strategy,” said Khaldoon Al Mubarak while speaking at the Milken Institute Mena Summit.

“If you look at agri-business, that’s new space for us, if you look at biotech, that’s a new space for us. We continuously, as an organisation look at not just the past but future and look at long term returns.”

Al Mubarak also said they will continue to look at partnering with some of the most successful companies in the world to boost their business.

From being a traditional investor, we have grown over the years by opening up new sectors…it’s a very important part of our growth strategy.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala CEO, on investing in new sectors

“In the last 15 years, we’ve become a global player and we built a successful track record by partnering and that is really the ethos of Mubadala. We would like to partner with best in class and we would like to invest in successful companies and successful businesses.”

Mubadala Investment Company was created in 2017 with the merger of Mubadala Development Company and International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to create one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. In 2018, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, another sovereign wealth fund became part of Mubadala.

Mubadala’s portfolio of over $225 billion (Dh1.5 trillion) spans five continents with investments in oil and gas, aerospace, healthcare and real estate, among others. It posted a profit of Dh10.9 billion for the first half of 2018 driven by revenues from public equities and operating companies in the oil and gas sector.

The company currently operates in 50 countries with offices in Hong Kong, Moscow, New York, San Francisco and Brazil, he said.

“Given our size, we can’t concentrate investments in the UAE. Eighty per cent of our investments are international.”