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.

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%.

ADX

9,595

-0.2% (YTD: +1.9%)

DFM

5,335

-0.5% (YTD: +3.4%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

4,395

-0.6% (YTD: +5.5%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

4.3% o/n

4.4% 1 yr

Tadawul

12,319

-0.6% (YTD: +2.4%)

EGX30

30,925

-0.3% (YTD: +4.0%)

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-

The DFM fell 0.5% yesterday on turnover of AED 623.8 mn. The index is up 3.4% YTD.

In the green: Shuaa Capital (+2.6%), Gulf Navigation Holding (+2.1%) and Al Salam Bank (+2.0%).

In the red: National International Holding Company (-7.0%), International Financial Advisors (-6.2%) and Empower (-2.9%).

Over on the ADX, the index fell 0.2% on turnover of AED 12.3 bn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai closed down 0.6%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

Emirates NBD shareholders approved a dividend of AED 1 per ordinary share for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2024, totaling AED 6.3 bn, according to a press release.

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