Doha Investment is expanding Qatar’s Active Asset Management Initiative to QR5 billion from QR2.6 billion, the investment company said in a statement carried by the Qatar News Agency on Monday.
The additional QR2.4 billion commitment will be funded through new cash and will be open to eligible local and international asset managers, according to the Qatar Stock Exchange, which welcomed the decision on Tuesday.
Qatar Investment Authority launched the initiative in 2024. It hires global and local asset managers with Qatar and Gulf expertise to invest in listed Qatari shares.
The program has deployed QR2.6 billion since inception. Its four current managers are Ashmore Group, Fiera Capital, Franklin Templeton and Lesha Bank, and it plans to keep adding local and international participants.
Doha Investment, which is wholly owned by Qatar Investment Authority, was set up to accelerate the next stage of Qatar’s economic growth.
“Since its launch in 2024, Qatar’s Active Asset Management Initiative has attracted a growing number of international and local asset managers and participants, demonstrating the significant opportunities in the Qatari equity market,” said Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry and Doha Investment’s vice chairman and managing director.
He said the additional investment would contribute to a more active and diversified market.
Abdulla Mohammed Al Ansari, chief executive of the Qatar Stock Exchange, said that since 2024 the bourse had seen more asset managers researching Qatari companies, more orders in the order book and narrower bid-ask spreads.
Doubling the program to QR5 billion adds significant capital and scale and will open the door to larger investment mandates, Al Ansari said. The exchange will work with Doha Investment, the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, Edaa and market participants to support the initiative, it said.
