Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) increased its target allocation to private equity in 2025, raising the range from 12-17% to 15-20%. This makes private equity the sovereign wealth fund’s second-largest single allocation after developed market equities.
The higher allocation came as ADIA continued to monetise private assets thanks to its integrated approach to deployment and portfolio management, the fund said in its 2025 Review.
ADIA’s Private Equity Department (PED) invests across direct investments, funds and platforms, with exposure spanning buyouts, growth equity, private credit and venture capital. This multi-strategy presence gives the department a broad view of developments across private markets, helping inform both new investments and portfolio management decisions.
Through its platform initiative, PED partnered with multiple general partners (GPs) to launch new strategies, while its flexible capital approach enabled selective participation in GP-led secondary transactions.
A notable transaction was a China-focused multi-asset portfolio managed by CDH Investments in which ADIA acted as an anchor investor. The limited partner had also previously led an investment in a single-asset continuation vehicle managed by GL Capital, which transferred stakes in SciClone Pharmaceuticals, a China-focused pharmaceutical company specialising in oncology and immunology.
These investments also highlight ADIA’s continued confidence in high-quality Chinese assets despite broader market caution.
“With exits becoming a core focus for the wider private equity industry, PED actively monetised positions through multiple channels during the year,” ADIA said in its report.
On the direct investment side, it continued to deploy capital into businesses where it sees structural growth opportunities and scope for operational value creation.
The private equity business focused on high-quality businesses benefiting from the digitisation of business processes, demographic shifts and supply chain reconfiguration. It remains particularly focused on sectors and transactions where operational complexity and scale favour patient, solutions-oriented capital.
One example is SK Specialty, a South Korean producer of high-purity gases used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Take-private transactions were another prominent feature of the department’s activity during the year, ADIA added. Working alongside some of its core GPs, PED pursued opportunities to acquire public companies at attractive valuations and support operational transformation away from public-market pressures.
Digital infrastructure in focus
AI has emerged as a consistent investment theme across ADIA’s strategies.
In private equity, PED has placed particular emphasis on enterprise software businesses that stand to benefit from AI integration and the wider digitisation of core business processes.
More broadly, the department is assessing how AI could reshape value creation across private markets, both as a source of disruption and as a tool for improving operations at portfolio companies.
Meanwhile, ADIA’s infrastructure team last year doubled down on Asian data centre platform Vantage. Joining GIC in the investment, ADIA committed $600 million to the business, which manages assets across Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The sovereign wealth fund views such assets as “closely aligned” with its target risk-return profile.
The fund expects infrastructure’s essential nature and contracted cash flows to provide relative stability amid volatile markets.
Within infrastructure, utilities and energy are also seen as relatively well positioned to withstand a potential resurgence in inflation. Meanwhile, M&A activity, which gained momentum in the second half of 2025, is expected to accelerate further if geopolitical tensions ease, supporting a longer-term outlook for the sector.
ADIA’s real estate investments are also increasingly tied to the region’s digital and logistics infrastructure needs.
Looking to capitalise on digital growth and e-commerce and AI-related demand in Asia, it committed up to $1.5 billion in GLP to support the expansion of logistics and digital infrastructure platforms.
More recently, ADIA has invested in Hong Kong-based Dignari Capital Partners’ APAC Developed Markets Private Credit Strategy, which targets financing opportunities for residential, office, retail, student accommodation, serviced apartment, co-living, data centres, and logistics segments.
Private credit is another area where ADIA’s real estate department is extending its reach. Alongside equity investments, private credit remained a core focus throughout 2025, as it has demonstrated resilience through periods of interest-rate volatility.
