Mubadala Investment Co., Abu Dhabi, achieved record income in 2020, largely driven by its public equities portfolio.
The sovereign wealth fund said in its annual review, published Thursday, that it achieved total comprehensive income of 72 billion dirham ($19.6 billion) in the calendar year 2020, compared with 53 billion dirham in 2019.
Assets increased 4.8% to 894 billion dirham.
The fund attributed its performance to a multiyear strategy to increase investments in sectors with "growth 'tailwinds,'" the update said, such as technology, life sciences and consumer goods. Exposure to these sectors came from both direct investments and partnerships with money managers, including a long-term agreement with technology investment firm Silver Lake. The wealth fund also implemented "major" or "significant" investments with life-sciences firm PCI Pharma in the U.S., consumer goods and telecommunications firm Reliance Group in India, and made new commitments to and deployed capital with Apax Partners, Citadel, iSquared Capital and CVC, the update said.
Mubadala invested 108 billion dirham of capital in 2020, compared with 68 billion dirham in 2019.
The United Arab Emirates and the U.S. remained the largest geographic exposures for Mubadala's portfolio. Allocations were not available.
"Last year, as the world confronted a tragic pandemic, we worked closely with our partners and portfolio companies to offer support to communities hit hard by COVID. Across the group, our employees dedicated themselves to helping these communities during this crisis, and that important work will continue," Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director and CEO of Mubadala, said in the update.
He said executives decided to accelerate the pace of its capital deployment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The wealth fund's asset allocation included a 34% investment in direct and indirect private equity, 29% in public equities and 14% in real estate and infrastructure as of the end of 2020. Other allocations were not disclosed. Its 2019 review said 43% of the portfolio was invested in direct and indirect private equity, 21% in public equities and 11% in real estate and infrastructure.
Mubadala's five-year annualized return was 9.8% through Dec. 31. The wealth fund does not release annual data on revenue or net income, since it is "not relevant to a long-term investor," the update said.
