Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), said that QIA will embed Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in its investment process. The QIA will focus on continuing to boost investments in Asia and the US.
“We have been investing in the ESG initiatives and projects for quite time but this year it would be a little bit institutionalised in our process and we will embed ESG into our investment process. We will have a policy we will have a KPI. ESG is getting very important and I think the momentum globally is there,” said Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud during a session on the third and final day of Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg.
“Investors are looking to deploy investment and government from other side are being very receptive and both parties are admitting that we have an issue globally And I think there is a momentum and there is a tremendous opportunity in that space,” he said.
Stephen A Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO and Co-founder, Blackstone also participated in the discussion. Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud said that QIA belives in diversification strategy.
“We have been very vocal about Asia and US and we have been very vocal that we had little bit of concentration in Europe and we have been deployed for the last two years mainly in Asia and US. It’s going fantastic and most of our pipeline is dominated for these regions,” he said.
“We always believe in diversification and a great balance and a mix that would manage our risk. So perhaps when we have our opportunities you might hear us acquire some businesses in the future,” he added.
According to QIA chief technology is a promising sector. “We have been deploying and focusing in technology and healthcare. Within the last two years we have deployed in technologies more than ever before. I think this sector is a promising especially if you really target a certain sectors within technology sector,” he said. “Its the year of technologies and a portfolio without a huge component of technology is not really a balanced portfolio,” he added.
He said that the Pandemic has changed the landscape but his philosophy remains the same “We remain as long term investor we remain to really invest for purposes in very diversified way,” he added. “Our philosophy is investing with a purpose and we are always satisfied when we invest in some thing that it brings positivity to the market that we are investing in and which is environmentally friendly,” he added.
