Qatar wants a slice of the cake: It’s Qatar’s turn to stake its claim in global finance, as its sovereign wealth fund pours capital into firms, drawing financiers to set up shop in Doha in exchange for backing, the Financial Times writes.

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The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has already committed nearly half of its USD 1 bn fund-of-funds to attract VCs, aiming to turn the country into a regional VC hub. “There is a different level of engagement when [the partners] are prepared to invest into the country and help diversify your own economy,” said Mohsin Pirzada, head of funds at the QIA.

The Gulf state is following in the footsteps of its regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, which have used their sovereign wealth funds to bring global finance players into their markets. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and BlackRock launched BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management last year after the PIF committed USD 5 bn to BlackRock and Abu Dhabi has become a magnet for hedge funds and asset managers like Brevan Howard and PGIM.

Now, Qatar’s making its own push — backing six VC firms so far, including Builders VC and B Capital. Two have already opened offices in Doha, while the others are finalizing their move.

Qatar isn’t just looking at venture capital — it also wants private equity-backed companies to set up shop. “If these underlying companies want to expand into the Middle East, then we would roll out the red carpet and say, consider Doha as a choice,” Pirzada said.

Qatar’s latest play for venture capital aligns with other Gulf nation’s ambitions to diversify their economies, with Pirzada calling the intra-regional competition to attract fund managers “healthy.”

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are broadly in the red in early trading this morning — Japan’s Nikkei is down 1%, the Shanghai Composite is looking at losses of 0.5%, the Hang Seng is down 1.9%, and the Kospi is down 0.2%.

TASI

12,319

-0.6% (YTD: +2.4%)

MSCI Tadawul 30

1,545

-0.4% (YTD: +2.4%)

NomuC

31,398

-0.2% (YTD: -0.3%)

USD : SAR (SAMA)

USD 3.75 Sell

USD 3.75 Buy

Interest rates

5.0% repo

4.5% reverse repo

EGX30

30,925

-0.3% (YTD: +4.0%)

ADX

9,595

-0.2% (YTD: +1.9%)

DFM

5,335

-0.5% (YTD: +3.4%)

S&P 500

5,983

-0.5% (YTD: +1.7%)

FTSE 100

8,659

0.0% (YTD: +6.0%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,454

-0.4% (YTD: +11.4%)

Brent crude

USD 74.88

+0.6%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.99

-5.7%

Gold

USD 2,969

+0.5%

BTC

USD 93,246

-2.7% (YTD: +0.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL: TADAWUL-

The TASI fell 0.6% yesterday on turnover of SAR 7 bn. The index is up 2.4% YTD.

In the green: Lumi (+4.4%), ANB (+3.0%) and Ades (+2.8%).

In the red: Chubb (-7.6%), Nadec (-5.6%) and APC (-5.4%).

THE CLOSING BELL: NOMU-

The NomuC fell 0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 43.3 mn. The index is down 0.3% YTD.

In the green: Tharwah (+6.0%), Leaf (+5.9%) and Rawasi (+5.7%).

In the red: Fadeco (-8.5%), Sama Water (-6.5%) and iOud (-6.5%).

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Gulf Union Alahlia Cooperative Ins. received the green light from the CMA to increase its capital to SAR 687.2 mn, up from SAR 458.9 mn, by issuing 22.8 mn shares to merge Gulf General Cooperative Ins. assets and liabilities into Gulf Union Alahlia Cooperative Ins. via a securities exchange offer, the CMA said in a statement. The move is still pending approval from Gulf Union Alahlia’s shareholders.

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