Technology and Renewables Top Sovereign Wealth Funds’ Investments in 2023

The 2023 edition of our Sovereign Wealth Funds research report was presented in Madrid.

On September 28, we had the pleasure to present our 2023 Sovereign Wealth Funds report in partnership with ICEX-Invest in Spain, with its director Javier Capapé, Spain’s Secretary of State for Commerce Xiana Méndez, ICEX-Invest in Spain’s Executive Director Elisa García and IE University’s Global Head of Sustainability Isabela del Alcázar.

Dr. Capapé highlighted the key findings of the study, among them:

– Sovereign funds hold over $11 trillion in assets worldwide, an 11% increase from last year and an addition of about $8 trillion in the last 15 years.

– Technology remains the top investment sector (particularly AI), followed by infrastructure (especially renewable energies), the industrial sector, biotechnology and health.

– China fell out of the top three countries for share of deals, now trailing the United States, the UK and India.

– Temasek and GIC (both from Singapore), Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (both from Abu Dhabi), the Qatar Investment Authority and the Public Investment Fund (from Saudi Arabia) took part in more than 80% of the transactions analyzed.

– Sovereign funds conducted 11 transactions in Spain in 2022, matching a previous record set in 2014, with a total value of €2.9 billion.

Regarding the climate impact of these investments, Dr. Capapé stressed: “It is very encouraging to see sovereign wealth funds investing in green and renewable energy – with no oil and gas deals since 2021 – leading by example in the green transition.” 

At the event’s closing, Secretary of State Méndez noted the report “clearly illustrates the active role that sovereign wealth funds play in the global economy through large and increasingly diversified operations.”

Isabela del Alcázar stressed IE University’s commitment to producing cutting-edge research, advancing the green transition and disseminating knowledge about the impact of technological disruption.

Learn more about our research on Sovereign Wealth Funds and download the 2023 report here.