Abu Dhabi royal launches $50B global investment fund

Chimera Investment LLC, part of a business empire overseen by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, set up a $50 billion fund, adding to the plethora of sovereign and state-linked funds in the oil-rich emirate.

Lunate, which will start operations later this year, will manage the funds of outside investors and raise new capital. The entity is owned by Chimera and Lunate’s senior management. It will focus on private and public market investments across private equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, public equities, and public credit, it said in a statement Friday. 

Khalifa Al Suwaidi, head of Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, will be one of three managing partners, along with Murtaza Hussain, chief investment officer at Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ, and Chimera Chief Executive Officer Seif Fikry.

Lunate adds another player to a region that’s used energy riches to become a major force in the investing landscape. The move is further example of the blurring lines between the private and sovereign financial empires overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon, after ADQ and International Holding Co. last month combined key real estate assets into a $12 billion property giant.

Abu Dhabi — a city that’s among the few globally to manage over $1 trillion in sovereign wealth capital — already has an array of vehicles, from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to Mubadala Investment Co. and ADQ, dedicated to diversifying the economy beyond hydrocarbons.

Sheikh Tahnoon, a brother of the United Arab Emirates’ ruler and the country’s national security adviser, presides over many of these investments. Over the past few months, he has gained control of the largest sovereign wealth fund in the UAE, expanding the assets he oversees to almost $1.5 trillion. 

“Lunate will launch new products to further grow our assets under management while we continue managing legacy products on behalf of our clients,” Fikry said in the statement. The fund eventually plans to have more than 150 employees, including around 80 investment professionals, with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.

In March, General Atlantic said it was partnering with Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ and IHC, the biggest listed company in the emirate, on a new venture that will invest in alternative assets. It’s not immediately clear how Lunate will fit with those plans.