Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is undergoing its biggest overhaul since 2014 by grouping $100 billion of its stakes in companies such as Qatar Airways and Qatar National Bank into a new internal division named Qatar Investments.
Ahmed Al Rumaihi, a former Qatari diplomat in the US, will head the fund unit, which aims to bring greater oversight by having a single person in charge and boost its focus on Asia and the US to diversify the geographic location of its assets, Bloomberg reported, quoting sources familiar with the plans.
The Qatar Holding name, which invested in big companies such as Glencore and Barclays, will now be replaced by QIA on international investments.
The country isn’t planning to allocate any new money to the QIA this year or withdraw funds and has asked it to rely on asset sales or dividend income for new investments, Bloomberg said.
The changes are among the biggest initiatives undertaken by the fund since royal family member Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohamed bin Saud Al Thani was appointed CEO in 2014.
Amid the changes, senior executives have been hired, including Phil Dunne, former chief financial officer at Citigroup Alternative Investments, recently joined as CFO, Ole Christian Frøseth is the new head of fixed income.
The newswire also reported that the QIA also recruited Darren Winstone from neighbouring fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as its new of head of passive investments last month, a unit which seeks to invest through external fund managers.
The Qatari fund, with more than $250 billion of assets, said last year it plans to invest $35 billion in the US over the next five years after opening an office in New York.
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