Sovereign wealth funds are now among the biggest pools of institutional capital in the world, overseeing roughly $12tn–$13tn globally, with the GCC accounting for well over $4tn and now closer to $6tn by some estimates. They are no longer just giant LPs. In the GCC, especially the UAE, SWFs have become anchor capital and active co-investors across venture, growth, and scale.

Three trends are particularly relevant for growth-stage companies:

• SWFs are pivoting from offshore dealmaking and instead focusing on local ecosystem development, using public assets as an economic development stimulus while partnering with global GPs to stimulate private sector growth.
• Regulatory reforms across GCC stock markets, including Saudi’s Tadawul and UAE exchanges, are improving the region’s long-term exit environment for investors and founders.
• New policy frameworks, partnership agreements, and in some cases local presence requirements are pushing more global managers to build meaningful teams on the ground in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, rather than running GCC relationships from London, Paris or Berlin.

GGH has produced a White Paper, “Sovereign Wealth in the GCC”, exploring these trends in full detail. You can read it at ggh.global.