The Diplomat
Sovereign wealth funds will have over $15.1 trillion in global investment assets by 2026, according to the Sovereign Wealth Funds Report 2026, prepared by the Center for Governance for Change at IE University, in collaboration with ICEX-Invest in Spain, and presented this Friday at ICEX headquarters in Madrid.
The study, which analyzes the activity of these investment vehicles between July 2024 and December 2025, confirms the consolidation of sovereign wealth funds as central players in global private markets. In more than half of the large transactions exceeding one billion dollars, these investors now act as strategic partners and main drivers, rather than minority co-investors.
Furthermore, the IE University and ICEX-Invest in Spain Sovereign Wealth Funds Report 2026 confirms, once again, a high concentration of activity among the world’s largest funds. Among them, Temasek (Singapore), GIC (Singapore), and Mubadala (Abu Dhabi) lead in number of transactions, while GIC tops the ranking by economic volume, followed by PIF (Saudi Arabia) and QIA (Qatar). Also noteworthy is the emergence of new players such as MGX, Abu Dhabi’s new technology investment fund, with significant investments in AI and technology.
In the case of Spain, the report confirms the country’s growing importance as a destination for sovereign capital. Between July 2024 and December 2025, Spain registered 18 direct transactions, with a combined value of €6.7 billion—equivalent to $7.6 billion. Broken down by fiscal year, direct sovereign investment in Spain exceeded €4.3 billion in 2024 and €2.2 billion in 2025.
Of these 18 transactions, twelve corresponded to foreign sovereign wealth funds and six to domestic investment vehicles, reflecting both Spain’s capacity to attract long-term international capital and the consolidation of its own public co-investment architecture. For the second consecutive year, Spain ranks sixth globally in terms of the value of transactions involving sovereign participation, and second in the EU, only behind Germany.
The activity is concentrated in sectors that are strategic for the Spanish economy: renewable energy, digital infrastructure, higher education and student residences, technology, and industry.
Among the most significant transactions are the investments by Mubadala (of Abu Dhabi, which has strengthened its position as the leading sovereign investor in Spain, especially since its acquisition of a stake in Cepsa, now Moeve, in 2009) and Masdar in renewables and education; GIC’s (of Singapore) investment in telecommunications infrastructure and student residences; the presence of the Temasek-Keppel ecosystem in data centers; and the initial deployment of the FOCO co-investment fund (managed by Cofides) in Spanish companies and platforms.
Furthermore, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, through its Government Pension Fund Global, held a position exceeding €24 billion at the end of 2025, a 21% increase compared to the end of 2024, encompassing corporate and sovereign debt, listed shares, and investments in private markets (renewable infrastructure).
Meanwhile, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with approximately €1.85 trillion in assets under management at the end of 2025, maintains the most diversified sovereign wealth position in Spain and the largest in aggregate volume.
At the close of 2025, this sovereign wealth fund’s exposure in Spain stood at an estimated total of €24.1 billion. The majority of this is channeled into listed shares (€14.3 billion), concentrated in the largest companies on the Spanish Stock Exchange: Iberdrola (approximately €3 billion), BBVA and Santander (approximately €2.5 billion each), Inditex (€1.4 billion), and Amadeus (€713 million). Its largest position is in Amadeus, where it holds over 2.5% of the capital.
