(August 20, 2012) — The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has snapped up more European real estate than any other sovereign wealth fund (SWF), a report on the giant financial institutions has found.
Arabian Business Insider reported that the QIA was the second largest buyer of European real estate last year, having spent €3.5 billion on eight deals, including the London Olympic athlete’s village and a mall on Paris’ Champs Elysees.
The magazine cited Real Capital Analytics, a specialized research firm, as releasing the data.
The $100 billion SWF, which pools revenue from the sale of Qatar’s huge natural gas reserves, was second only to private-equity firm BlackStone in the major purchasing ranking last year.
Qatar was behind much of the financing of The Shard, an iconic building now dominating London’s skyline, which is the tallest in Western Europe.
Investors have been turning back to real estate since the quasi-collapse of the financial system–but only towards top level properties, aiCIO reported this month.
Good renting opportunities and hard assets to sell on have appealed to investors hurt by financial products over the past few years.