Abu Dhabi Crowned World’s Richest City for Sovereign Wealth Funds

Global SWF’s recent report shows that Abu Dhabi has become the richest city in the globe based on its sovereign wealth fund assets. Today, Abu Dhabi’s estimated to have $1.7tn invested across all its sovereign wealth funds, outstripping Oslo, home to the biggest individual fund.

The two SWFs of Abu Dhabi

The rise to the top is supported by the Abu Dhabi’s powerful set of SWFs, ADIA, MIC, ADQ, EIA. Combined the two institutions now control $1.7 trillion in assets as they just beat out the Oslo based Government Pension Fund that has more than $1.6 trillion in assets.

Its client list goes deeper than SWFs, and includes central banks, pension funds, and family offices associated with the Royal Family. According to Global SWF, the total public capital in Abu Dhabi is at $2.3 trillion it is expected to rise to $3.4 trillion by 2030 making it the “Capital of Capital”.

Sovereign Wealth Fund: An International Perspective

Dubai and Oslo head a short list of cities that are home to the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Next are Beijing, Singapore, Riyadh, and Hong Kong and these six cities account for two thirds of the global capital worked by sovereign wealth funds, with $12.5 trillion as of October 1, 2024.

Diego López founder and managing director of Global SWF highlighted the importance of these financial centres internationally. He added that the report provides insights on changes in SWF-managed capital, pointing out that such funds focus on few cities globally and their growing importance in some countries.