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Mubadala Investment income up 36% to record high of Dh72b in 2020

Dubai - Assets under management across the group stood at Dh894 billion compared to Dh853 billion in 2019.

Mubadala Investment announced on Thursday that its income rose nearly 36 per cent to a record high of Dh72 billion in 2020, a year which also saw the firm investing a total Dh108 billion of capital in various global entities, the most it has invested in a single year.

In a statement, Abu Dhabi’s state investment firm said the jump in annual income was driven by growth in its public equities portfolio and funds. At year-end, assets under management across the group stood at Dh894 billion compared to Dh853 billion in 2019.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director and group CEO, said the group worked closely with partners and portfolio companies to offer support to communities hit hard by Covid as the world confronted a tragic pandemic in 2020. “Across the group, our employees dedicated themselves to helping these communities during this crisis, and that important work will continue,” he said.

“We navigated our portfolio through the dramatic macro-economic decline of early 2020, and decided to accelerate the pace of our capital deployment, ending the year with record profit and growth,” added Al Mubarak.

He said in line with the group’s long-term strategy, Mubadala increased its investments in sectors where it had high conviction and with high-performing fund managers.

“Technology and life sciences in particular have been essential to the world over the last year, and we see those sectors bringing greater opportunity for deeper investment. We have worked to be well-positioned in these areas and in key geographies as the global economy continues to recover,” said Al Mubarak.

Capital investments included Dh4.3 billion in Reliance Industries-owned Jio, Dh2.7 billion in private equity investor Silver Lake, Dh2.2 billion in PCI Pharma and Dh7.5 billion through partnerships with CVC, Citadel, iSquared Capital and Apax Partners, the company said.

The state fund said 2020 performance was also attributable to its multi-year strategy to increase investments in sectors with growth ‘tailwinds’, such as technology, life sciences, and consumer goods, through direct investments and partnerships with leading fund managers.

Overall, the UAE and the United States remain the largest geographic areas for the portfolio. In addition to its new capital deployment in India, Mubadala also invested through its sovereign investment partnerships in France, China and Russia in 2020.

Carlos Obeid, group chief financial officer, said the strong performance was a reflection of Mubadala’s agility as an investor, as well as its globally diversified portfolio of equities, funds, and mature and growing companies.

“In 2020, we took advantage of the historically low interest rates to lower our cost of borrowing and extend its weighted average life on the back of strong investor demand for our bond issuances. We continue to maintain a prudent gearing ratio standing at 9.1 per cent and a strong cash position as we manage through this economic cycle with a long-term view,” said Obeid.

Some 34 per cent of Mubadala’s portfolio comprises direct and indirect investments in private equity, with 29 per cent in public markets and 14 per cent in real estate and infrastructure, among others.

In 2020, Mubadala realised Dh104 billion in monetisation of mature assets and distributions from investments locally and abroad, including Dh16.7 billion through the sale of a 39 per cent stake in Borealis to OMV, its largest-ever single monetisation.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com