This edition examines how sovereign wealth funds Mubadala and PIF are deploying capital at scale, though Riyadh’s new discipline could put further pressure on Asian managers.
Riyadh’s new discipline spells trouble for Asia’s fund managers
PIF has set out its 2026–2030 strategy, structuring its investments into three portfolios, with a focus on domestic investments and on generating returns through a more disciplined approach to allocations.
And this could hardly have come at a worse time for Asian GPs, amid an already brutal fundraising environment.
DealStreetAsia’s latest data show that only three Southeast Asia-focused private equity funds reached a final close in 2025, while venture funds fared even worse, with just four final closes for the full year. In both cases, LPs have been concentrating capital behind larger, more established managers and demanding clearer paths to liquidity.
That is what makes the PIF shift so consequential. Saudi Arabia is not turning off the tap altogether, but the kingdom is becoming more selective, more domestic in orientation and more explicit about what it wants in return.
The new strategy is placing greater emphasis on local priorities such as industry, AI and tourism. At the same time, Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan has said the fund intends to keep roughly 80 per cent of assets at home and only 20 per cent abroad.
For years, many Asian managers treated Riyadh as one of the few remaining pools of capital still willing to listen, especially as Western LPs pulled back from China and became more cautious on allocating to Southeast Asia.
But Saudi wealth is increasingly being directed to managers that can offer something in return: Local presence, co-investment into the kingdom, sector expertise aligned with domestic priorities, or a broader strategic relationship. That raises the bar meaningfully for subscale Asian GPs who had hoped a Gulf allocation might help fill the hole left by a tougher fundraising market.
Put simply, the pilgrimage model no longer works. Turning up in Riyadh or anywhere in the Middle East with a familiar India or Southeast Asia growth pitch may not be enough. The firms that succeed will be the ones that can show why backing their fund helps Saudi Arabia as much as it helps their own fundraising.
For everyone else, especially managers from China and Southeast Asia already battling a ‘flight to scale’ among LPs, PIF’s new discipline is one more sign that even the world’s deepest pockets can’t escape financial gravity.
Mubadala bets on structured approach
Mubadala Investment Company makes clear that scale in sovereign wealth funds is defined by sustained capital deployment and structured portfolio frameworks, as reflected in its 2025 investment activity.
Abu Dhabi’s SWF Mubadala Investment Company’s assets under management rose by approximately 16.7% year-on-year, increasing from AED1.2 trillion in 2024 to AED 1.4 trillion in 2025.
Source: Mubadala
More notable here is the increase in deployment from AED 119 billion in 2024 to AED 143 billion in 2025, and a rise in proceeds from AED 109 billion to AED 138 billion over the same period. Mubadala’s five-year return increased to 10.7%, up from 10.1%, while its ten-year return increased to 10.3%, up from 8.7%.
Source: Mubadala
Within the SWF’s broader allocation, the Asia-Pacific has gradually increased its share from 12% in 2023 to 13% in 2025. While incremental, it reflects a steady evolution in regional exposure within a stable global framework.
That global footprint is also visible in deal activity across markets and structures. In Asia, Mubadala acquired a 30% stake in Asian pallet pooling firm Loscam International, marking its first industrial investment in the region. In Europe, it committed €300 million to Rezolv Energy, supporting renewable power expansion. In financial services, Mubadala Capital completed the CAD$12.1 billion take-private of CI Financial, further expanding its global asset management platform.
From infrastructure and real assets to private markets platforms and secondaries-linked strategies, it investments span different parts of the capital structure. For example, its $500-million commitment with Ardian is focused on infrastructure secondaries and LP-led portfolios, with scope for additional co-investment alongside the same strategy.
In technology and artificial intelligence, Mubadala increased its commitment to MGX, including participation in the AI Infrastructure Partnership and collaboration around large-scale AI infrastructure development in Europe.
At home, Mubadala’s UAE portfolio contributed AED 45 billion to GDP and supported 98,000 jobs directly and indirectly, while delivering strong returns. This indicates continued activity across the UAE portfolio alongside global investments across sectors and structures.
What is clear for both PIF and Mubadala is that the defining feature is not a single theme, but rather a structured approach to capital deployment across the global markets.
Top APAC developments
Fundraising
Creador, one of the largest independent fund managers in India and Southeast Asia, plans to raise $1 billion next year despite sluggish distributions across regional private equity.
UK-listed asset manager ICG is also preparing to begin work on its next Asia flagship fund, ICG Asia Pacific Fund V, with preparations potentially starting within the next 12 months.
Deals
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is considering an investment of up to $25 million in a Singapore-based private credit vehicle of fintech platform Helicap Group.
In India, IFC is in talks to invest in an Indian diagnostics platform, amid rising demand for preventive healthcare.
In China, insurer Ping An is seeking to sell about $1 billion worth of fund portfolio through the secondaries market, according to media reports.
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Remembering Mark Mobius (1936 – 2026)
About a decade ago, when DealStreetAsia was still finding its feet, we were putting together our first Asia PE-VC Summit in 2016. We had no events team, no template to follow, and very little credibility to trade on. We needed an impactful keynote speaker.
I approached Mark one morning at Suntec City in Singapore and simply asked. Mark had absolutely no reason to say yes, but he did! He opened our inaugural summit, and long after his session ended, he stayed – talking to our team, to delegates, to guests. He made the room feel legitimate.
We caught up a few more times during my early years in Singapore. Mark was endlessly curious about India – often, I felt, better informed about the country than I was, and certainly more bullish on its prospects than I could bring myself to be.
The last time I interviewed him, before COVID, he kept returning to two themes: job creation and ease of doing business. Both remain, in my view, India’s most stubborn unresolved challenges. Yet he was equally convinced that the country’s equity boom was only just beginning, and that consumer technology and fintech, mobile payments especially, were where investors needed to be. On both counts, he was early. He was right.
Mark Mobius was extraordinarily generous with his time at a moment when we had very little to offer in return. That first summit – and, in many ways, our ability to keep building from there – began with the generosity of people like him. I just wanted to acknowledge that and remember Mark with gratitude.
Joji Thomas Philip
Editor-in-Chief
