UAE's Mubadala leads way on Q3 transparency

The UAE's Mubadala is among the most transparent sovereign wealth funds in the world, according to a new survey.

The Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index for the third quarter, published by the SWF Institute, also showed that Oman was home to one of the least transparent sovereign wealth funds.

Mubadala scored a 10 in the LMTI ratings for Q3 to top the table alongside funds from Chile, Singapore, Ireland, Azerbaijan, the US, Norway and New Zealand.

The index is calculated with 10 principles - such as whether the fund provides up-to-date, independently audited annual reports, or whether it provides clear strategies and objectives.

Enhancing transparency is a key task for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), whose often opaque operations have come under heavy criticism by some Western politicians who suspect them of investing with political, rather than commercial, motives.

Bahrain's Mumtalakat was the next best scoring GCC SWF with a score of eight, with Kuwait on six and Qatar on five.

Saudi Arabia's SAMA and Public Investment Fund managed a score of four, as did the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Bothe the UAE's IPIC and ADIA scored just three while the Emirates Investment Authority scored two out of 10.

But bottom spot went to Oman, alongside SWFs from Nigeria, Mauritania, Iran, Brunei and Algeria.

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