India's sovereign fund NIIFL appoints Sanjiv Aggarwal as CEO
Reuters
Fri, January 5, 2024
BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's quasi-sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL), named Sanjiv Aggarwal as its CEO and Managing Director (MD) on Friday.
Aggarwal brings "significant experience" in the infrastructure and energy sectors and takes over from Rajiv Dhar, who has been serving as the interim CEO and MD since May 2023, the statement said.
Former CEO and MD, Sujoy Bose, resigned from the company in May 2023.
Aggarwal previously worked at UK-based investment firm Actis, where he oversaw the company's energy investments in Asia, including the sale of Actis' Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy to energy major Shell Plc in April 2022 for $1.55 billion.
His appointment comes at a time when the NIIFL, which was founded in 2015 and manages more than $4.9 billion in equity capital commitments, has stepped up its investments in the infrastructure and growth equity segments.
Last month, it invested about 6.75 billion rupees ($81.16 million) in the new greenfield airport project in Andhra Pradesh, to be developed by airport operator GMR Airports.
In October 2023, it partnered with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to introduce a $600 million fund aimed at funding sustainability projects.
The fund is also an investor in local private equity and mid-market private equity funds such as Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Lighthouse India Fund IV. ($1 = 83.1650 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
“Oil Five” Sovereign Wealth Funds Pass $4 Trillion Mark
The sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf Cooperation Council members topped $4 trillion last year, which was an all-time high.
Called the “Oil Five”, the group of top sovereign wealth funds includes three entities from the United Arab Emirates, one from Saudi Arabia, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The five invested a total $75.6 billion last year, which was a decline on 2022 investments, the Khaleej Times reported, citing data from a report by Global SWF.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority were the most active investors, accounting for the bulk of the five’s total, at some $68 billion. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund was also the biggest investor globally last year, deploying $31.6 billion across 49 deals.
The amount was a 33% increase on 2022 and a record for any sovereign wealth fund. The total spend of sovereign wealth funds last year reached $123.8 billion. The five oil funds from the Gulf were the most active investors during the year.
The increase in investments for the Gulf oil kingdoms’ sovereign wealth funds comes amid lower oil prices and also lower production for Saudi Arabia. Based on their assets under management, however, it appears the effect of the oil price rout last year will manifest with a delay.
The UAE, meanwhile, launched a new investment fund at the COP28 climate conference in December. The entity will have a size of $30 billion and will be a partnership between the Emirates, BlackRock, TPG, and Brookfield, the Financial Times reported in late November, citing sources in the know.
A day later Reuters confirmed the news citing the official announcement of the UAE’s President, who said the fund, dubbed ALTERRA, will seek to raise up to $250 billion by the end of the decade, to invest in in climate-related initiatives.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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