Kuwait’s post-oil life fund rises to a record $700B | Business and Economic News

The Future Generation Fund is managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, and more than 50% of its investment is in the United States.

Kuwait is trying to get rid of its dependence on oil funds through investment.

According to people familiar with the matter, the National Savings Fund “Future Generation Fund”, which aims to help the country prepare for life after oil, has increased to about 700 billion US dollars. The person, who asked not to be named, said that as of the end of the previous fiscal year on March 31, its assets were valued at approximately $670 billion.

The fund is managed by the Kuwait Investment Authority, and more than 50% of its investments are in the United States, where the stock market has been in a state of slump. The benchmark S&P 500 index surged by more than 8% last quarter, rising for three consecutive months, while the MSCI World Index rose by more than 7%.

The person familiar with the matter said that when the global market plummeted last year as the pandemic spread across the world, the portfolio increased its holdings of US assets. The person familiar with the matter said that the fund invested in several of the most hit US indexes.

Kia officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Finance Minister Khalifa Hamada (Khalifa Hamada) said on Thursday that after a record growth of 33% in the previous fiscal year, the recent gains followed. He said that the growth of the fund in the past five years has exceeded the country’s total oil revenue during the same period.

Kuwait’s total oil revenue in the past five years was 66.7 billion dinars (US$221 billion).

KIA also manages the country’s general reserve fund. It is one of the oldest sovereign funds in the world and one of the largest. It owns shares in ports, airports and power distribution systems around the world. No funds for future generations may be used without the approval of the Parliament.

According to the ranking of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the Norwegian government pension fund is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with assets of US$1.3 trillion. It is followed by the China Investment Corporation, which manages US$1 trillion in assets, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which manages US$649 billion in assets.