Who’s Afraid of Mideast Money?

The men who manage the region’s sovereign wealth funds are using the billions from Persian Gulf oil revenues to change the face of global finance

Deep inside a fortress of government ministries in Kuwait City, Bader M. Al Sa’ad moves billion-dollar chunks of wealth around the world like chess pieces. Slim and stately, the head of the Kuwait Investment Authority manages $213 billion on behalf of his government. His portfolio, one of the biggest so-called sovereign wealth funds in the world, is constantly replenished with money that flows into Kuwait in exchange for the oil that flows out. As prices top $100 a barrel, Kuwait’s coffers are swelling.


With portraits of the emir and crown prince looming above Al Sa’ad’s desk, one might expect the 50-year-old money manager to be tight-lipped about his investment strategy. But Al Sa’ad, who has held his post for just four years, is in a chatty mood. He says he wants to invest more in China and Brazil and other hot emerging markets