Qatar wealth fund to open office in Silicon Valley

LONDON — Qatar's Sovereign Wealth Fund said on Monday it would open an office in San Francisco to expand its growing US portfolio, and was still considering investing in a technology fund formed by SoftBank Group Corp.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), one of the most active of its kind, has stakes in everything from real estate to luxury goods — traditionally largely in Europe. But it has said it is looking to diversify its investments into Asia and the United States, according to Reuters.

"Soon we will be opening an office in the Silicon Valley in San Francisco," the fund's CEO, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, told reporters at an investment conference in London. 

"What we plan is to open the office hopefully by the end of this year, if not by end of this year then it will be first quarter of next year. It will be linked very commercially to our office in New York and we will take it from there," he said.

Qatar was considering investing in a $100 billion global technology fund formed by SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese telecommunications and Internet company, and Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported in October.

"We are still in a study, but we haven't made a decision yet," Al Thani said on Monday. 

In 2015, Qatar said it would spend $35 billion in the United States over the next five years after opening an office in New York. In December the fund said it would invest $10 billion in infrastructure projects inside the United States.

The QIA has about $334 billion of assets according to industry tracker Sovereign Wealth Centre.

Qatar will also invest £5 billion in Britain within five years in a boost for the post-Brexit economy, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Thani told the press on Monday. 

"Over the next three to five years, Qatar will invest £5 billion ($6.23 billion, 5.8 billion euros) in the UK economy through various investment funds and relevant parties in Qatar — which will constitute another addition to its already successful investments in the UK," the Qatari official said, as he was also taking part in the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in London.

The investments will focus on energy, infrastructure, real estate and services, the Qatari premier said shortly after appearing at the investment forum, which brings together over 400 British and Qatari business leaders and senior politicians.

Qatar has already invested more than £40 billion across Britain, including in iconic real estate, London's Shard building and the Harrod's department store.

British trade minister Liam Fox was also present at Monday's event, which moves to the central England city of Birmingham on Tuesday for its second and final day.

Fox was keen to show the world that Britain is open for business despite leaving the EU, and said that Qatar made an ideal post-Brexit trading partner.

"We have to stop viewing things through the prism of Brexit," he told the forum. 

"Qatar and UK are natural allies and I believe that private sector growth in both countries can enhance ties and promote foreign direct investment."

The minister insisted that Brexit would "accelerate the changes the UK has to undergo in a globalised world," and that other European Union members would also have to adapt to the shifting landscape of international trade.