Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world’s third-biggest sovereign wealth fund, said it may invest more in renewable energy, as climate change fears prompt fund managers even in the oil-rich Middle East to look beyond fossil fuels.
ADIA manages the reserves of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates and which produces about 3 percent of the world’s oil output. The fund manages USD 828 billion in assets, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, making it the world’s third-largest sovereign wealth fund.
Two years ago ADIA invested in Greenko Energy Holdings, one of India’s renewable energy companies, with Singapore’s GIC.
“The world’s energy industry is in the early stages of a fundamental shift from fossil fuels to a more sustainable reliance on a range of renewable technologies,” ADIA said in its 2017 annual review. ADIA said it conducted a review last year of climate change and its potential impact, in order to assess how markets and governments could respond to this impending transition.
Overall, ADIA’s latest review showed that its long-term returns improved in 2017, helped by rising equity markets.
In US dollar terms, the 20-year and 30-year annualized rates of return for the ADIA portfolio were 6.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively.