Adia restructures board of directors

18 March 2010

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund publishes first annual review

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, has restructured its board of directors, according to Emirates News Agency (Wam) on 17 March.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, UAE president and ruler of Abu Dhabi, issued a decree, which names the following people as members of the board with immediate effect:

  • Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the president’s representative
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi
  • Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, chairman of the board of trustees of the Zayed Foundation for Charity and Humanitarian Works, who also acts as the managing director
  • Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of presidential affairs
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Nahyan, chairman of Abu Dhabi Finance Department
  • Mohammed Habroush al-Suweidi, adviser to the president
  • Hamad al-Hur al-Suweidi, under secretary of Abu Dhabi Finance Department
  • Khalil Mohammed Sharif Foulathi, chairman of the board of the UAE Central Bank
  • Juwan Salim al-Dhahiri

On 14 March, Adia published its first-ever annual review in order to meet disclosure rules under the Santiago Principles, a set of requirements it agreed to in 2008.

The sovereign wealth fund averaged annual returns of 6.5 per cent over the past 20 years.

Adia’s strategy of investing Abu Dhabi’s excess oil revenues has led it to put 60 per cent of its assets in indexed investments, which are considered to be relatively conservative.

The fund puts between 35 and 45 per cent of its assets in developed market stocks, between 10 and 20 per cent in emerging market stock and between 10 and 20 per cent in government bonds, the disclosures showed.

Property, hedge funds and small companies, which are considered riskier asset classes, each comprise up to 10 per cent of its portfolio. The fund also keeps up to 10 per cent of its assets in cash.

Adia made an average annualised return of 8 per cent over the 30 years ending December 2009.

On 17 March, Mubadala Development Company, another investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government, announced senior management appointments and organisational changes in its healthcare and energy and industry units.

Mubadala has appointed associate director Suhail Mahmood al-Ansari as the new head of Mubadala’s Healthcare Unit, replacing Mark Erhart, who is leaving the company by the end of April.

Meanwhile, the Mubadala Energy & Industry subsidiary has been split into two separate units.

The industry unit will be now headed by Ahmed Yahia al-Idrissi, a new addition to Mubadala’s senior management team, who has acted as a senior adviser to the energy and industry unit for more than three years.

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