Qatar Investment Authority

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; Arabic: جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In August 2025, the fund had an estimated $557 billion of assets under management.

The QIA's structure and decision-making procedures have been characterized as non-transparent. Spending decisions regarding the fund have been linked to the emir and the prime minister (regardless of whether they sit on the board of the fund).

The QIA was founded in 2005 by the then-emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses of the government of Qatar. As a result of its stated strategy to minimize risk from Qatar's reliance on energy prices, the fund predominantly invests in international markets (United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and within Qatar outside the energy sector. Prior to establishment of the QIA in 2005, Qatar's Ministry of Finance had a small in-house team to invest revenue from budget surpluses. The Qatar National Vision 2030 foresees the shift from natural gas based revenue to QIA-type investments between now and then. QIA does not publish its holdings to the market.

In June 2013, after the new emir's arrival to power, and a general reshuffle of Qatar's main organizations, Ahmad Al Sayed was appointed as QIA's chairman and chief executive officer, replacing Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani in the post while also remaining managing director and CEO of QIA's main subsidiary, Qatar Holding. Sayed held the post for 16 months. In January 2015, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of Qatari telecommunications company Ooredoo, was appointed as CEO and served until 2018. From July 2022 to November 2024, Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud has held the position of CEO of the company. He was succeeded by Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi. In March 2023, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani was appointed chairman and replaced his predecessor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who was named as the country's Prime Minister, in addition to his long-standing role of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The fund is a founding member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.

As of 2021, the Qatar Investment Authority had more than half of its assets invested in private equity and listed shares. According to Bloomberg, QIA has increasingly targeted start-ups in growth markets, such as Asia and the US. It has invested in indoor farming and firms that make plant-based meat alternatives.

QIA's subsidiaries include Es'hailSat, Hassad Food, Katara Hospitality, Ooredoo, Qatar Airways, Qatari Diar, Qatar Holding, Qatar Stock Exchange, QNB Group and QNBN.

In January 2013, one writer pegged the QIA investment in Britain at €30 billion, France at €10 billion and Germany at €5 billion, while another reported that the total assets under management in June 2013 was on the order of $100 billion. Qatar Holding's stake in Barclays rose to 12.7% following Barclays' capital raising in October 2008. Qatar Investment Authority holds a small stake in Fisker Automotive. It also holds about 17% stake in the Volkswagen Group, Porsche, Hochtief, as well as investments in Sainsbury's. The French government has made of Qatar a strategic partner, and the list of partnerships between the two states includes Total (4%), EADS (6%), Technip, Air Liquide, Vinci SA (5%), GDF Suez, Veolia (5%), Vivendi, Royal Monceau, France Telecom and Areva. In February 2009, France accorded special beyond-OECD investment privileges to Qatar and its state-owned enterprises; one example is capital gains exemptions in France. The QIA is also reported to hold part of Glencore.