Mubadala maintained its role for the second consecutive year as the biggest state-owned spender in 2025 — if we exclude Saudi’s Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) acquisition of EA Sports, which accounted for 80% of its USD 36.2 bn total. The Abu Dhabi investor deployed a record USD 32.7 bn across 40 transactions in 10 different countries, according to Global SWF’s annual report.

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Who were the other top regional spenders? The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) ranked as the seventh top sovereign spender with USD 12.9 bn spent throughout the year, while ADQ came in 10th with USD 10.9 bn. On the regional front, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) ranked sixth (USD 16.6 bn), and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) came in 13th (USD 6.5 bn).

Mubadala was big on AI, emerging as the top spender on AI during the year, with some USD 4.9 bn spent. These include a USD 1.4 bn Series E funding round in US-based AI infrastructure company Crusoe and a USD 150 mn funding round for AI tools provider Anaconda. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority spent some USD 1.2 bn on AI, while ADQ invested USD 1 bn.

Other top sectors for capital: Of the USD 276 bn deployed by sovereign investors in 2025, infrastructure and energy dominated the allocation landscape, capturing 33% of the total investment value. Real estate accounted for 24%, while consumer made up 15%, and technology accounted for 12%.

Private equity was still a big area of focus for Gulf SWFs, with Mubadala deploying USD 23 bn into PE transactions, while PIF remained the largest global contributor at USD 33.1 bn. Adia and ADQ each committed at least USD 5 bn to the asset class.

UAE sovereigns also led the region in private credit: Adia ranked second globally with USD 23.7 bn worth of allocations in private credit, making up 2% of its portfolio, and Mubadala was seventh at USD 20 bn (making up 5.6% of its portfolio).

Our take: GCC SWFs are stepping into private credit as banks and Western lenders pull back to reduce risk, manage balance sheets, and cope with higher funding costs. This allows them to fill financing gaps and secure higher yields, especially as competition thins. In private equity, the same retreat has created windows for GCC sovereigns to deploy large-scale capital at more attractive valuations, allowing them to back buyouts and growth investments.

In terms of AUM

The UAE cemented its place as the wealthiest sovereign hub in the MENA region last year, with its state-owned investors (SOI) managing USD 2.93 tn in assets, accounting for the lion’s share of the region’s USD 8.7 tn assets and taking the fourth global spot. Regionally, Saudi Arabia placed second with USD 2.2 tn and Kuwait came in third with USD 1.2 tn.

The breakdown: Adia led the pack with USD 1.2 tn in assets under management, followed by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) with USD 429 bn, Mubadala (USD 358 bn), and ADQ (USD 251 bn). Smaller UAE SOIs include the Emirates Investment Authority (USD 116 bn), Dubai Investment Fund (USD 80 bn), Dubai Holding (USD 72 bn), and Sharjah Asset Management (USD 3.6 bn).

Zooming out

Global SWFs invested USD 180.3 bn across 324 transactions in 2025, marking a 35% y-o-y increase. The Gulf’s biggest SWFs (PIF, Mubadala, Adia, ADQ, ICD, KIA, and QIA) accounted for 43% of the total — up 43% y-o-y.

What’s next?

USD 22.4 tn by 2030: Global SWF assets are projected to reach USD 22.4 tn by 2030, up from USD 15.2 tn today, driven by market performance, oil prices, and the emergence of new funds. Regional heavyweights are set to claim a larger share of this total, as Adia is forecast to reach USD 1.67 tn, followed by ICD at USD 602 bn, and Mubadala at USD 500 bn.

As AI demand reshapes energy markets and rising debt burdens squeeze traditional returns, SWFs will increasingly rely on “policy due diligence” and political buy-in to secure transactions, which will show up in new cross-border collaborations, Ziemba Insights founder Rachel Ziemba told the data platform. This is especially the case as they navigate a fragmented global trade landscape and parallel US-China tech supply chains in 2026.

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