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Gulf sovereign funds defy Iran war jitters, commit record Dh198 billion in H1 2026
Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala tops global rankings again with $15.2 billion deployed, as state investors pour almost half their Gulf capital into the United States
- PUBLISHED: Wed 1 Jul 2026, 12:21 PM
Gulf sovereign wealth funds shrugged off the volatility triggered by the war in Iran to post their most active first half on record, committing $53.9 billion (Dh198 billion) across 108 deals between January and June 2026, according to new data from Global SWF.
The figure marks a historical high for the region's state-owned investors and comes despite a sharp bout of market turbulence sparked by the conflict and the accompanying spike in oil prices.
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Global SWF said the rebound was swift enough to push the wider sovereign investment industry's total assets under management to an all-time peak of $62.5 trillion.
State-owned investors worldwide deployed $143.6 billion across 366 transactions in the period, with most major investor groups – including Canada’s so-called Maple 8 pension funds, Singapore's twin funds, and the Gulf's sovereign wealth vehicles – increasing their deployment compared with the previous six-month period.
Gulf funds, however, stood out.
Their $53.9 billion outlay accounted for more than a third of all global sovereign capital deployed in the half-year, with almost half of that sum directed to the US.
China and the UK followed as the next most popular destinations. Technology was the standout sector, with artificial intelligence continuing to draw the bulk of sovereign capital, extending a trend that has defined Gulf fund strategy over the past two years.
Mubadala retains its crown
Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company topped the global ranking of most active sovereign funds for the period, investing $15.2 billion at group level. The rest of the so-called Gulf Seven – the region's most prominent sovereign investors — showed no sign of slowing either, Global SWF noted.
The result builds on Mubadala’s momentum from 2025, when it invested Dh120 billion ($32.7 billion) across 40 transactions to rank as the world’s most active sovereign fund by deal count that year, though Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund led on total capital committed, at $36.2 billion.
Abu Dhabi’s cluster of sovereign vehicles have been on a steep growth trajectory. Global SWF projected earlier this year that the UAE’s three largest funds would see their combined assets climb from $1.974 trillion in 2025 to $2.767 trillion by 2030, an increase of nearly $793 billion, driven by sustained oil income and strong equity returns.
New funds emerge
The report also flagged a split narrative within the broader industry: a wave of new sovereign wealth funds and international offices is being established worldwide, even as a notable number of existing funds and offices are being shut down amid cost-cutting drives. Global SWF has previously noted that 38 new SWFs were set up in the first half of the current decade, together managing around $500 billion in assets, underscoring how new entrants continue to reshape the competitive landscape even as some incumbents scale back.
The figures add to a growing body of evidence that Gulf capital – and Abu Dhabi’s in particular – is becoming an increasingly dominant force in global dealmaking, even through periods of acute regional instability.
