Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), will commit up to $1.5 billion to a new fund set up media magnate, James Murdoch, and former Star India CEO, Uday Shankar, according to an announcement by Lupa Systems last week.
QIA’s commitment to the new investment vehicle, known as “Bodhi Tree”, will effectively double its exposure to India, which currently stands at around $1.3 billion, Diego López, founder and managing director of consultancy, Global SWF, told FinanceAsia.
“QIA has been beefing up its investment teams across most industries and especially its Asian team in both Doha and Singapore. We expect this to bump its activity in Southeast Asia and Far East Asia significantly in the next few months or years,” he added.
According to the data platform, Global SWF, QIA is the world’s 15th largest sovereign fund, with assets under management of $445 billion and a 41% allocation to alternative assets.
The fund, which was first announced in January, will focus on opportunities in the media and consumer tech sectors in Southeast Asia. In particular, Bodhi Tree will target investments in India, the announcement said.
“[India] is a great catch-up story in terms of expected future GDP growth. It’s going to be the most populous country in the world – maybe this year? – and most funds view it as an historic “underweight” in their portfolio. Increased disposable income will underpin the outlook for consumer spending,” Gary Smith, managing director of think-tank, Sovereign Focus, explained to FA.
Furthermore, it allows investors like QIA to diversify away from China: “The Alibaba story and on-going global political tensions have lessened the appeal of China, and improved the relative appeal of India,” he added.
Murdoch, the son of News Corporation billionaire founder, Robert Murdoch, founded investment holding company Lupa in 2019. He earlier served as CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019, and as the company’s co-COO, chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia. In 2020, he resigned from the board of News Corp allegedly citing disagreements over editorial content.
Shankar served as president of 21st Century Fox for Asia between 2017 and 2018. He was appointed as president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific when the company acquired 21st Century Fox in 2018. He stepped down in 2020, to pursue an entrepreneurial career.
In May 2021, Murdoch and Shankar teamed up to list a $300 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on Nasdaq. Seven Islands Inc seeks to acquire a target in “media, entertainment, consumer technology, healthcare, and education industries in Southeast and South Asia, with a particular focus on India,” according to SEC filings.
"QIA is investing in the technology and media space and India is a key market for us. QIA looks forward to backing Bodhi Tree as they drive forward their growth plans in the future,” said QIA CEO Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, in the release.
QIA and Lupa declined to comment for this story.
