Qatar Investment Authority

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In October 2023, the QIA has an estimated $475 billion of assets under management. The QIA's structure and decision-making procedures have been characterized as non-transparent. However, according to Global SWF’s 2022 Governance, Sustainability & Resilience of State-Owned Investors Scoreboard, QIA is becoming more transparent and sustainable. Spending decisions regarding the fund have been linked to the emir and the prime minister (regardless of whether they sit on the board of the fund). In September 2017, ResearchGate (Berlin-based blog) provided data about the functioning behind the Qatar Investment Authority's investments and it was found out that QIA's participation in global capitalism as a fully state-owned business is a compelling and little-examined facet of the organization. History and profile The QIA was founded in 2005 by the then-emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses of the government of Qatar. As a result of its stated strategy to minimize risk from Qatar's reliance on energy prices, the fund predominantly invests in international markets (United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and within Qatar outside the energy sector. Prior to establishment of the QIA in 2005, Qatar's Ministry of Finance had a small in-house team to invest revenue from budget surpluses. The Qatar National Vision 2030 foresees the shift from natural gas based revenue to QIA-type investments between now and then. The QIA wholly controls Qatari Diar, a property investment company. The QIA does not publish its holdings to the market.