The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. As of May 2026, the fund had an estimated $600 billion of assets under management.
The QIA's structure and decision-making procedures have been characterized as non-transparent. 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).
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. QIA does not publish its holdings to the market.
In June 2013, after the new emir's arrival to power, and a general reshuffle of Qatar's main organizations, Ahmad Al Sayed was appointed as QIA's chairman and chief executive officer, replacing Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani in the post while also remaining managing director and CEO of QIA's main subsidiary, Qatar Holding. Sayed held the post for 16 months. In January 2015, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of Qatari telecommunications company Ooredoo, was appointed as CEO and served until 2018. From July 2022 to November 2024, Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud has held the position of CEO of the company. He was succeeded by Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi. In March 2023, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani was appointed chairman and replaced his predecessor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who was named as the country's prime minister in addition to his long-standing role as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The fund is a founding member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.
As of 2021, the Qatar Investment Authority had more than half of its assets invested in private equity and listed shares. According to Bloomberg, QIA has increasingly targeted start-ups in growth markets, such as Asia and the US. It has invested in indoor farming and firms that make plant-based meat alternatives.
Structure Executive management
Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi – CEO
Board of directors
Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani – Chairman Mohammed bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani – Vice chairman Ali bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Abdullah Al Thani Hassan Al-Thawadi Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani Nasser Al-Khelaifi
Subsidiaries QIA's subsidiaries include Es'hailSat, Hassad Food, Katara Hospitality, Ooredoo, Qatar Airways, Qatari Diar, Qatar Holding, Qatar Stock Exchange, QNB Group and QNBN.
Investments In January 2013, one writer pegged the QIA investment in Britain at €30 billion, France at €10 billion and Germany at €5 billion, while another reported that the total assets under management in June 2013 was on the order of $100 billion. Qatar Holding's stake in Barclays rose to 12.7% following Barclays' capital raising in October 2008. Qatar Investment Authority holds a small stake in Fisker Automotive. It also holds about 17% stake in the Volkswagen Group, Porsche, Hochtief, as well as investments in Sainsbury's. The French government has made of Qatar a strategic partner, and the list of partnerships between the two states includes Total (4%), EADS (6%), Technip, Air Liquide, Vinci SA (5%), GDF Suez, Veolia (5%), Vivendi, Royal Monceau, France Telecom and Areva. In February 2009, France accorded special beyond-OECD investment privileges to Qatar and its state-owned enterprises; one example is capital gains exemptions in France. The QIA is also reported to hold 8.2% of Glencore.
QIA holds a 6% stake in Credit Suisse. The French government has offered tax exemptions for Qatari real estate investments in the country and have acquired almost $4 billion of property. In May 2012, it acquired a stake below 3% in Royal Dutch Shell. It has announced a plan to raise its stake to 7%.
In November 2012, QIA and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti signed the starting agreement of IQ Made in Italy Venture, a four-year cooperation to promote Made in Italy in Qatar's Arabic partners and to push them to invest in Italian economic sectors like fashion, luxury, design, food, tourism, lifestyle & leisure.
In January 2013, Qatar Holding, an indirect subsidiary of QIA, said it would invest $5 billion into petrochemical projects in Malaysia in three to four years. The investment was said to help Malaysia compete with neighbouring Singapore to become the region's top petrochemical hub. The QIA was planning to invest $200 million in residential property in India through Kotak Realty Fund in late December 2013. In August 2018, Qatar Investment Authority signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to invest up to $500mn in tourism in Indonesia.
In October 2014 Qatar Investment Authority signed an agreement with CITIC Group Corp to launch a $10 billion fund to invest in China. The QIA announced its intention to invest $35b in the US during the next five years, starting in September 2015.
Via Mannai Corporation, it is currently in a process of acquiring the French computer science group GFI. In 2021, QIA with its subsidiary unit - Locus Engineering Management and Services Co. W.L.L. is investing in a sub-Saharan African renewable energy platform being led by Enel Green Power.
During the 2021 St Petersburg Economic Forum, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani highlighted Qatar's solid historic relations with Russia and announced that his country will increase investments in the Russian Federation. He also called on Russia's private sector and the world to explore Qatar's promising business environment in many projects and several spheres.
On 23 January 2023, Qatar Investment Authority has doubled its stake in Credit Suisse Group, becoming the second-biggest shareholder and underlining the growing importance of Middle Eastern investors to the ailing Swiss bank.
In June 2024, Reuters wrote that QIA had agreed to buy a 10% stake in ChinaAMC and was awaiting approval by Chinese regulators.
Real estate The QIA real estate portfolio includes direct ownership, joint ventures, trusts and funds. It wholly controls Qatari Diar, a property investment company, and also owns Katara Hospitality, a global hotel owner, developer and operator.
In 2013, QIA acquired a 40% stake in the Porta Nuova business district in Milan, later purchasing the remaining interest in 2015.
QIA has purchased $3.78 billion in Manhattan properties since 2014, including 111 West 33rd Street, 501 Seventh Avenue and 250 West 57th Street. In 2015, in a joint venture with Brookfield Property Partners, QIA acquired a 44% stake in the Manhattan West development. In 2022, QIA and Brookfield sold a 49% shareholding in the project to Blackstone Real Estate.
QIA and Brookfield jointly acquired Canary Wharf Group for £2.6 billion. The Canary Wharf Group is London's largest property owner, with almost 21.5m sq ft of space on its books, according to data from the research firm Datscha.
QIA has also made investments in Asia Square in Singapore and the HSBC Tower in London. In 2016, QIA purchased a 9.9% stake in Empire State Realty Trust.
Qatar Investment Authority is a major shareholder in Heathrow Airport, holding 20 percent of the airport. In 2017, the company invested a further £650 million (US$807 million).
QIA has held a 20% stake in Inmobiliaria Colonial since 2018. In August 2018, Brookfield signed a 99-year lease on Jared Kushner's financially troubled 666 Fifth Avenue skyscraper. The deal raised suspicions that the Qatar Investment Authority, a major investor in Brookfield, was attempting to influence the Trump administration.
In 2019, QIA partnered with Crown Acquisitions to acquire a significant stake in Vornado Realty Trust, a portfolio of premium New York retail properties.
QIA also owns luxury hotels including the St. Regis San Francisco, the St. Regis New York, and the W Barcelona. In 2023, it acquired the Park Lane Hotel in New York.
Qatari Diar
Qatari Diar is a real estate company established by the Qatar Investment Authority in 2005 with headquarters in Lusail.
In 2008, Qatari Diar acquired French engineering company Cegelec, which was later sold, in 2010, to Vinci SA in exchange for 31.5 million Vinci shares.
By 2011 the company had stakes in the utility Suez Environnement and in Veolia Environnement (4.6%, sold in 2018). In 2011, Qatari Diar bought the Port Tarraco Marina in Tarragona, Spain. The company invested into The Shard, a skyscraper in London designed by Renzo Piano, and the former Royal Dutch Shell plc headquarters. Other London investments include the Chelsea Barracks, the US Embassy, Elephant and Castle and Grosvenor Waterside.
In 2012, it completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse's headquarters in London. Qatari Diar along with Canary Wharf, won a £300mn deal to redevelop the Shell Centre in London, the former London headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell.
As of 2013, Qatari Diar was one of the major financiers of a recent development known as CityCenterDC, as it invested $650 million into the project. Qatari Diar also invested into The Peninsula Paris hotel. In 2018, Qatari Diar started to develop the Chancery Rosewood hotel in the building of the former US Embassy at 30 Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, London. The hotel was opened in September 2025.
In April 2023, the company sold its 22 per cent stake in the build-to-rent developer Get Living, which owns the publicly funded Olympic village also known as East Village, London. Qatari Diar sold its shares to Aware Super, an Australian pension fund.
Technology, media and telecom Qatar Holding, a subsidiary of QIA, holds a 13% in the French media and publishing group Lagardère.
On 3 December 2010, QIA, along with Colony Capital and Tutor-Saliba Corporation, was part of an investment group known as Filmyard Holdings, which purchased Miramax from Disney. In December 2017, QIA and hedge fund Elliott Investment jointly acquired the US-based networking software company Gigamon for $1.6 billion. In September 2018, QIA jointly led a $400 million funding round for the US-based real estate technology company Compass alongside Softbank Vision Fund.
In 2019, QIA led an investment of $150 million in Indian education start-up BYJU'S. In 2022, QIA partnered with BYJU'S to launch a new research and development centre in Doha as well as an edtech business. In October of that year, QIA led an additional $250 million funding round for BYJU'S.
Together with other investors, QIA bought a 10% stake in Vivendi's Universal Music Group in December 2019. In March 2021, QIA became a minority investor in Coveo, the cloud-based search, recommendations, and personalization company. In December 2022, QIA led an $196.5 million funding round for Snyk. In January 2023, QIA invested $150 million in The North Road Company. In May 2023, London (United Kingdom) based and Sachin Dev Duggal-led Builder.ai received $250 million in series D funding, led by the QIA. In the same month, QIA co-invested $105 million in the Turkish AI platform Insider alongside Istanbul-based Esas Private Equity. In June 2023, QIA invested $4.05 billion in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, and Washington Mystics, securing a 5% stake in the company. In December 2023, QIA acquired a 4.26% stake in the Chinese software company Kingdee.