Abu Dhabi SWF to review strategy in wake of crisis

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, said it was reviewing its long-term strategy for possible changes in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Several sovereign wealth funds in the oil-exporting Gulf have suffered heavy losses on equity investments following the sharp slide in stock markets last year.

ADIA, which according to one recent estimate has about $282 billion in assets, invested $7.5 billion in U.S. bank Citigroup <C.N> last year through convertible bonds that it must start converting in March 2010. [ID:nL1605896]

"ADIA is currently reviewing its long-term strategy of assets ... and assess whether changes are warranted," Obaid Murad Al Suwaidi, director of the Equities for Far East Department of ADIA, said in a speech at a business seminar in Tokyo.

He did not elaborate on what changes might be made. He said ADIA tried to "look beyond the cycle" and that it remained committed to investing for the long term across different types of assets.

"ADIA will continue to look at ways of capturing major market trends across all markets and asset classes, for example equities, fixed income and real estate," he said.

In a recent report consulting firm Monitor Group estimated ADIA had $282 billion in assets, making it the world's second-largest sovereign wealth fund after Norway's Government Pension Fund, which has an estimated $326 billion.

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