The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund (7th place SWF Institute Ranking 2010), managing body, specializing in local and foreign investment. It was founded to manage the funds of the Kuwaiti Government in light of financial surpluses after the discovery of oil.
Today, KIA manages the Kuwait General Reserve Fund, the Kuwait Future Generations Fund, as well as any other assets committed by the Ministry of Finance.
To put KIA's size into perspective, the Kuwait Future Generations Fund has 10% of annual oil revenues added to it. As of fiscal year 2004/2005, the annual contribution to the Kuwait Future Generations Fund was valued at 896.24 million Kuwaiti dinars (USD$3.07 billion).
KIA's board of directors is headed by the Minister of Finance, with other seats allocated to the Energy Minister, Governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, and 5 other nationals who are experts in the field, 3 of which should not hold any other public office.
KIA is estimated to hold in excess of $300 billion of assets, and is reportedly one of the largest Sovereign Wealth Funds in the World.
Some of the Investments around the world are:
- Kuwait Finance House - a 24.05% stake acquired
- Arab Insurance - a 12.5% stake acquired
- Daimler AG - a 36.7% stake acquired
- Citigroup - a 13.8% stake acquired
Read more about Kuwait Investment Authority: Grupo Torras
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