‘Our phones are ringing off the hook’: Amid a global downturn, the finance world is chasing Middle Eastern money
A man dressed in a thawb walks past Dassault Falcon executive jets, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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The organizers of the Investopia x Salt conference in Abu Dhabi — the brainchild of American financier and one-time White House press secretary Anthony Scaramucci and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — expected to see 1,000 guests over its two-day event in early March. Instead, it got 2,500.
“We’re a little overwhelmed, but it’s a great sign,” one of the organizers told CNBC. Some others were annoyed. “It’s too many people. Everyone is coming to the Gulf now begging for money. It’s embarrassing,” one Dubai-based fund manager said. Both sources declined to be named due to professional restrictions.
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That oil-rich Gulf states have a lot of money to spend isn’t new. The region’s 10 largest sovereign wealth funds combined manage nearly $4 trillion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. That’s more than the gross domestic product of France or the U.K. — and it doesn’t include private money.
But the influx of foreign institutional investors — and visible interest from venture capitalists and startup founders in advanced sectors like fintech, digital transformation and renewable energy technology — shows a level of sophistication that’s being noticed now more than ever, industry players say.
“Investment used to only flow from the Gulf outward. Now it’s going both ways; institutional investors are coming and investing here,” Marc Nassim, managing director at Dubai-based investment bank Awad Capital, told CNBC.
The regional investors, especially the sovereign funds but also the families, are now much more sophisticated than before.
Marc Nassim
Managing director, Awad Capital
“The Middle East feels more stable than Europe does right now,” Stephen Heller, founding partner at Germany-based AlphaQ Venture Capital, told CNBC. “Europe’s security issues, economic inequality are getting worse … meanwhile, the Gulf has its s— together.” Heller’s fund of funds, which invests in megatrends like climate technology, infrastructure, health and fintech, recently opened its first Middle Eastern office in Abu Dhabi.
“There’s an entrepreneurial energy in the UAE and Saudi Arabia today,” Heller said. “I see the potential because you have technically infinite capital, and if you have entrepreneurs coming here, you can have huge outcomes.”
Follow the capital
As oil prices made a roaring comeback in the last two years, the Gulf’s public wealth funds went on a spending spree. The top five regional funds in terms of spending in the last year — Abu Dhabi’s ADIA, ADQ and Mubadala, Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Qatar’s QIA — deployed a combined total of more than $73 billion in 2022 alone, according to sovereign wealth fund tracker Global SWF.
Abu Dhabi city skyline, United Arab Emirates.
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Meanwhile, the value of sovereign wealth funds’ assets globally dropped from $11.5 trillion to $10.6 trillion between 2021 and 2022, Global SWF reported, and those held by public pension funds also dropped amid a dramatic downturn in stock and bond markets.
“Five out of the ten most active investors hail from the Middle East,” and ADIA is currently the “world’s largest allocator to hedge funds,” Global SWF’s 2023 report wrote. It added that GCC sovereign wealth funds “played an important role in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and now again in 2022 during times of financial distress.”
So it’s an understatement to say that foreign demand is high. “A lot of places in the world are low on capital – Western institutional funds are kind of hamstrung. And this region has a lot of capital. Our phones are ringing off the hook,” one manager from a UAE investment fund said, declining to be named due to professional restrictions.
No longer ‘dumb money’
But while many overseas companies have long seen the Gulf as a source of “dumb money,” some local investment managers said – referring to the stereotype of oil-rich sheikhdoms throwing cash at whoever wants it – investment from the region has become much more sophisticated, employing deeper due diligence and being more selective than in past years.
“The regional investors, especially the sovereign funds but also the families, are now much more sophisticated than before,” Awad Capital’s Nassim said. “They are much more diligent than before in terms of who they write the check to.”
“Before it was much easier to come and say, ‘I’m a fund manager from San Francisco, please give me a couple million’. Now, not only are they more sophisticated but there are far more funds from all over the world – the U.S., Latin America, from Europe, Southeast Asia – coming here to raise capital. I think that a very small minority of them will be able to take money from the region – they are much more selective than before.”
A screen broadcasts Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive officer of Mubadala Investment Co., during a session at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.
Tasneem Alsultan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In the UAE in particular, liberalizing reforms, a much-praised handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and a willingness to do business with anyone — including countries like Israel and Russia – have enhanced its image to foreign investors. In Saudi Arabia, financiers are attracted to historic reforms and a massive growth market of nearly 40 million people, some 70% of whom are below the age of 34.
The money from the GCC funds still overwhelmingly goes to developed markets, in particular the U.S. and Europe. Priority sectors include energy, renewables, climate technology, biotech, agri-tech and digital transformation, fund managers say.
Like any commodity-related economic boom, however, fortunes are subject to change – it was not so long ago that the pandemic pushed oil prices to multi-decade lows, forcing Gulf governments to reign in spending and introduce new taxes. Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular are investing heavily in diversification, with a view to the long term.
“The music would stop if [the price of] oil goes down in a way that some SWFs are forced to use their reserves to help governments shore up their fiscal positions – very unlikely – or geopolitical risk” such as war or uprisings, Nassim said.
“If oil goes down, the surplus generated and which is usually allocated to the SWFs would obviously reduce, and that would force them to reduce their investments and limit them to assets that generate higher returns,” he added, though noted that not all SWFs have the same mandate when it comes to investment strategy.
For those companies seeking investment from the deep pockets of the Middle East, they are wise to do so while the music is playing.
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Coming in hot… well, as hot as these solar cars can get, upwards of 60 mph.
It’s hard to believe we’re just over a month away from this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 collegiate solar car track event! In July, some of the greatest engineering minds from universities across North America will roll into Bowling Green, Kentucky, with their respective hand-built solar-powered EVs to go head-to-head in a competition all about pushing the limits of sustainable transport. The goal? Complete as many laps as possible each race day using nothing but sunshine.
The event is open to the public and free to attend. Raycing kicks off on July 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT and continues through July 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT. You’re not going to want to miss this!
As a refresher, the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) is held annually and typically acts as a pre-qualifier for the American Solar Challenge (ASC), a cross-country solar car race held every two years. During ASC years, FSGP is where teams prove their vehicles are road-worthy and safe enough to trek over 1,500+ miles from Tennessee to Wyoming on public roads.
This year, however, is an off-year for ASC. Teams will only compete in the track event. Here are last year’s FSGP/ASC results and highlights.
The 2025 Electrek FSGP will again be held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which, interestingly enough, General Motors occasionally uses for Corvette testing and development. It’s here, students will go head-to-head in a grand prix-style event, competing to complete as many laps as possible using nothing but solar power. It may sound simple, but it’s a test of speed, efficiency, and endurance.
Last year’s event drew a record turnout, with more than 32 teams and 710 student participants from universities across the U.S. and Canada.
The ASC and FSGP are organized by the Innovators Educational Foundation (IEF), a 501c3 non-profit providing hands-on, multidisciplinary learning opportunities for college students. In 2023, Electrek announced the signing of a five-year title sponsorship agreement with the IEF, which will guarantee funds to host the yearly races through 2028.
This was a natural fit. EVs, solar power, sustainable transport, and collaboration—this is what we’re all about at Electrek, and we’re thrilled to once again be a part of such an incredible event.
Other 2025 Electrek FSGP sponsors include Altair, Blue Origin, MathWorks, Generac, and in previous years Tesla, which have used the event as prime recruiting grounds. In fact, in past years, one recruiter even told Electrek that “getting great employees at the Formula Sun Grand Prix was like shooting fish in a barrel” and added “students at these events are orders of magnitude more likely to yield successful hires than typical campus recruiting events.”
And when it comes to industry talent, FSGP/ASC has serious roots.
JB Straubel, Tesla’s co-founder, ex-CTO, and current sitting board member, got his start in the Stanford Solar Car program. While he currently serves as CEO of lithium-ion battery materials company Redwood Materials, Straubel talks about how many of Tesla’s early hires came straight out of that same solar car team in the video below.
If you’re interested in joining us in sponsoring these events, please get in touch here!
We’ll continue to post more details, including the full schedule, as the race nears! Keep an eye on the website as well.
2024 Electrek FSGP/ASC recaps
Below are the full recap videos from the Formula Sun Grand Prix/American Solar Challenge. The event’s official Flickr page has also amassed more than 1,500 photos. Check them out—they’re super cool!
More details and full results on last year’s Electrek American Solar Challenge and Formula Sun Grand Prix can be found on the event’s website.
Note: The Formula Sun Grand Prix is not in any way associated or affiliated with the Formula 1 companies, FORMULA 1 racing, or the FIA Formula One World Championship.
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The struggling carmaker is urgently cutting costs as it looks to turn things around. Nissan is offering buyouts to US workers at its Canton, Mississippi, plant, citing it as a “crucial” part of its comeback plan.
Nissan offers buyouts for US workers at its Canton plant
Nissan has been in the spotlight over the past few weeks for all the wrong reasons. It began earlier this month, following the company’s announcement that it was abandoning plans to build a new EV battery plant in Japan.
The facility was set to produce lower-cost LFP batteries, which have been key to BYD and other Chinese EV brands’ rapid rise in the global auto industry. With an annual production capacity of up to 5 GWh, the plant was expected to slash EV battery costs by 20% to 30%.
Facing slumping sales, lower profits, and more competition, Nissan launched its new recovery plan, dubbed “Re:Nissan,” earlier this month.
The comeback strategy involves cutting 20,000 jobs, or around 15% of its global workforce, by 2027. Nissan is also closing several plants to slash costs by 250 billion yen as it aims to return to profitability by fiscal year 2026.
According to an internal email, viewed by Reuters, Nissan is offering buyouts for US workers at its Canton plant. The email also stated that merit-based pay increases are suspended globally.
Christian Meunier, Nissan America’s chairman, said the buyouts are “crucial for Nissan’s comeback” in the US, its most important market.
“While substantial efforts have been made in the US to help right-size Nissan, we need to take additional, limited, strategic action here at a local level,” Meunier said in an email.
Nissan announced a voluntary separation program for a select number of US salaried employees. Since the plan is still ongoing, Nissan didn’t provide any further details.
On Wednesday, a separate report from Bloomberg News claimed that Nissan is looking to raise over 1 trillion yen ($6.9 billion) with the help of the UK government to repay a massive loan due next year.
Nissan invested $500 million to upgrade its Canton plant for electric vehicle (EV) production in the US. Although it initially planned to begin building EVs in the US this year, Nissan delayed production until at least 2028.
Later this year, Nissan will launch the upgraded LEAF, now with a longer driving range, an NACS charging port, and a more SUV-like design. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to launch by 2027.
Electrek’s Take
As Electrek reported yesterday, Nissan’s comeback plan hinges on its upgraded e-Power technology. The only issue is that the system is designed for hybrids.
Nissan is following in Toyota and Honda’s footsteps by advancing new hybrid and plug-in hybrid tech, but the company is already two steps behind.
Doubling down on hybrids and PHEVs while delaying more EV projects will likely only set Nissan up for failure over the next few years.
The Japanese automaker is already losing market share in some of its biggest markets, like China and Southeast Asia.
Can Nissan turn things around in the US, its most important market? Or, will it continue to fall out of favor with lower-cost, more advanced EVs on the way from brands like Rivian and Lucid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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