Abu Dhabi Investment Authority plans to selectively add personnel across real estate, infrastructure and private equity this year.
The sovereign wealth fund, which invests on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi, does not disclose assets under management, but is estimated to have $773 billion in assets by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.
In its 2013 review published July 1, ADIA said it has been adding personnel and developing investment capabilities across its alternative investments, and plans to continue to improve processes and data systems to support its investment, operations and risk teams. It will also “selectively hire within our operations and risk teams to fill remaining gaps.”
It also plans to expand the infrastructure and private equity teams. The fund does not disclose actual allocations but said it has between 1% and 5% allocated to infrastructure, and between 2% and 8% invested in private equity.
For real estate, ADIA said there is more work to be done before the department is fully staffed, although “the major components of the platform are largely in place, giving ADIA the capabilities to invest globally across a diverse opportunity set and, more importantly, to actively manage owned assets, investment managers and its portfolio as a whole.” The fund has between 5% and 10% of its assets allocated to real estate.
The review said total employees were about 1,500 at the end of 2013, up from 1,400 a year earlier.
The annualized return over the 20 years ended Dec. 31 was 7.2%, and 8.3% over 30 years.
The fund also said 75% of its assets are managed by external managers, and 55% of its total portfolio is invested in index-replicating strategies. These figures remain unchanged compared with the 2012 review.
An ADIA spokesman declined to comment further.