In the 6th annual meeting of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) held in Doha, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with Safdar Hosseini, the head of the National Development Fund of Iran. They reiterated that sovereign wealth funds should focus on economic activities, invest in infrastructure and avoid getting caught up in political bickering. According to recent data, the NDFI has around $70 billion in assets, while the Qatar Investment Authority has over $170 billion of assets under management. Sovereign wealth funds invest globally and most are funded by revenues from commodity exports or from foreign-exchange reserves held by central banks. They are state-owned investment funds investing in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as private equity funds or hedge funds.
