Sovereign Wealth Fund Statistics 2026: Assets and Returns

Sovereign Wealth Funds’ assets under management surpassed a record $15.1 trillion in 2026, up from $13.2 trillion in the previous edition of IE University’s annual sovereign wealth report. Global SWF, which tracks state-owned investors, puts the wider pool of sovereign funds, public pension funds and central banks at $60 trillion in assets and reserves, with a projection of circa $80 trillion by 2030. Those two totals frame the sovereign wealth fund statistics that follow.

The money is concentrated in a handful of institutions, and each one reports on its own calendar, in its own currency and against its own yardstick. The data below ranks the largest funds by assets, sets their self-reported long-term returns side by side, follows Norway’s fund through its record half-year, and traces an Abu Dhabi fund’s Bitcoin ETF stake through its SEC filings. Every figure comes from the fund itself, a government filing or a named research house.

Key Takeaways

• Norway’s NBIM leads the Global SWF ranking with 2,284 in AuM ($b), ahead of China’s SAFE IC at 2,047.
• Sovereign wealth funds invested $180.3 billion across 324 deals in 2025, according to Global SWF.
• Asia-Pacific and the Middle East account for nearly 80% of global sovereign assets under management.
• Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global returned 9.4% in the first half of 2026.
• GIC’s rolling 20-year real return fell to 3.4% for the year ended 31 March 2026, from 3.8% the year before.
• Mubadala’s 13F filings show its iShares Bitcoin Trust holding at 14,721,917 shares for the quarter ended June 2026.

Editor’s Choice

• Record sovereign assets: assets under management surpassed a record $15.1 trillion in 2026.
• State-owned investor universe: $60 trillion in assets and reserves.
• Norway fund value: 22,683 billion kroner as of 30 June 2026.
• Temasek portfolio: S$518 billion as at 31 March 2026.
• Mubadala assets: AED 1.4 trillion ($385 billion) at the end of 2025.
• Gulf 7 deal volume: $119 billion invested, a +43% increase from 2024.

Largest Sovereign Wealth Funds by Assets

Figures come from 22 sources: 15 fund releases, government pages and SEC filings, 6 research and data-provider sources, and 1 news report that traces to a fund’s own annual review. They span February 2025 to September 2026. Only primary disclosures and named research houses qualified. Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when funds publish new results.

• Global SWF lists Norway’s NBIM, established in 1997, at 2,284 in AuM ($b), the largest sovereign wealth fund in its ranking.
• China holds two of the top three spots, with SAFE IC at 2,047 and CIC at 1,567 in AuM ($b).
• Singapore’s GIC carries the highest alternatives share among the top six, at 39% of its portfolio.
• Saudi Arabia’s PIF invests 80% domestically, with 55% in alternatives, the most inward-facing profile in the top seven.
• Abu Dhabi’s newest vehicle, LIMAD, was established in 2026 with 300 in AuM ($b).
• Temasek and Mubadala sit close together at 401 and 385 in AuM ($b).

Source: Global SWF ranking, September 2026

What country has the biggest sovereign wealth fund?

Norway has the biggest single fund: Global SWF puts NBIM at 2,284 in AuM ($b). China holds the largest national total among the top funds, since SAFE IC and CIC together reach 3,614 in AuM ($b).

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Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment Activity in 2025

• Public pension funds added $97.8 billion across 238 deals, a smaller book than the sovereign funds.
• The average sovereign ticket rose to $0.49 billion in 2025.
• PIF led all investors with $36.2 billion committed, but 80% of this figure refers to the largest SWF-related deal of the year, EA Sports.
• Excluding that deal, Mubadala was the biggest spender, with a record $33.7 billion deployed across 40 transactions.
• The United States drew $132 billion, or 47% of the total investments in 2025.
• IE University found that a third of the capital invested by sovereign funds during the period analyzed was linked to AI and digital transformation.

By the numbers: Global SWF counts $119 billion from the Gulf 7, representing 43% of all capital invested by SOIs in 2025. The eight Canadian funds added $61 billion, i.e., a quarter of all capital deployed by SOIs. Two groups of funds wrote two-thirds of the year’s sovereign cheques.

Recent Developments

• September 2026: ADIA’s 2025 Review showed the range for private equity rose to between 15% and 20%, from 12%-17%, while real estate declined to between 2% and 7%, from 5%-10%.
• September 2026: The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation board reviewed FY26 results showing an audited total Fund balance of $91.9 billion as of June 30, 2026.
• August 2026: PIF published its 2025 Annual Report, in which revenue rose 9% year on year to $120 billion, while net profit more than doubled to $17 billion.
• August 2026: Mubadala Investment Co PJSC filed a 13F for the quarter ended June 2026, listing 72 information table entries with a value total of $34,771,171,317.
• August 2026: NBIM reported that the value of the fund increased by 1,416 billion kroner in the first half of the year, even after a stronger krone reduced the fund’s value by 427 billion kroner.
• July 2026: Temasek said its One-year TSR was 10.5%, with NPV increasing by S$49 billion in the year to 31 March 2026.

Global Sovereign Wealth Fund Assets and 2030 Outlook

• Global SWF says sovereign funds reached a historic high in December 2025, passing $15 trillion for the first time ever.
• Middle Eastern sovereign funds invested $127 billion, a 48% increase over 2024 figures, and were responsible for almost half of all deal activity.
• As of January 1, 2026, their assets stand at $6 trillion, according to Global SWF.
• Of the wider state-owned investor pool, 26% sits in North America (predominantly public pension funds), 19% in Europe.
• The MENA region holds 15%, mostly sovereign wealth funds, while over a third sits in Asia.
• IE University reports that sovereign investors participated in fewer transactions during the period analyzed, even as the total value of direct investments increased.

Source: IE University Center for the Governance of Change 2026, Global SWF 2026 Annual Report

Worth noting: The two research houses measure on different dates. Global SWF says sovereign funds passed $15 trillion in December 2025, while IE University’s report says assets under management surpassed a record $15.1 trillion in 2026. Read the two as one milestone confirmed twice, not as two separate years of growth.

Public pension funds make up much of the rest of that state-owned pool, and the largest pension fund rankings show how concentrated retirement capital has become.

Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund Value

• NBIM reports that More than half of the fund’s value is returns on the investments, and it totaled 15,210 billion kroner.
• Net government inflows account for 5,509 billion kroner, and 1,965 billion kroner came from currency.
• First-half inflows amounted to 89 billion kroner after deduction of expenses.
• The fund holds ownership shares in about 7,100 companies worldwide.
• On average, the fund owns 1.5% of all listed companies.
• “The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks,” said Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund Asset Allocation

• Equity investments returned 13.0% in the first half of 2026, carrying the fund’s result.
• Fixed-income investments returned 0.9% over the same period.
• Unlisted real estate returned 3.0%, and unlisted renewable energy infrastructure returned -0.2%.
• The fund’s return was 0.22 percentage points higher than the return on the benchmark index.

Sovereign Wealth Fund Returns Compared

• GIC reports an annualised US dollar nominal rate of return of 5.6% over the 20-year period that ended on 31 March 2026.
• Temasek’s 20-year Total Shareholder Return (TSR) at 6.8% and 10-year TSR at 7.1% cover the same fiscal year.
• ADIA’s 20-year and 30-year annualised rates of return, on a point-to-point basis, were respectively 6.6% and 7.2% in 2025.
• Mubadala reported a 5 Year IRR of 10.7% and a 10 Year IRR of 10.3% for 2025.
• PIF achieved an annualized total shareholder return of 5.8% since 2017.
• The Alaska Permanent Fund posted a one-year figure instead: total Fund return for the fiscal year was 12.42% net of fees.

Key finding: The measures are not interchangeable. GIC’s annualised real rate of return over the 20-year period that ended on 31 March 2026 was 3.4%, stripped of global inflation, while Temasek reports shareholder return in Singapore dollars. A fund quoting inflation-adjusted returns will always look weaker than one quoting nominal or currency-specific figures.

GIC’s inflation adjustment matters because global consumer price trends set the hurdle that real-return mandates must clear.

What is the average return for sovereign wealth funds?

No official industry average exists, because each fund picks its own measure. Among these disclosures, long-horizon figures run from GIC’s real rate of return over the same period of 3.4% to Mubadala’s 10 Year IRR of 10.3%. The spread reflects mandate and method as much as skill.

GIC Sovereign Wealth Fund Statistics

• GIC’s real return dropped to 3.4% for the year ended 31 March 2026, from 3.8% the year before, according to Singapore’s Ministry of Finance.
• Senior Minister of State Jeffrey Siow said GIC has prioritised portfolio resilience by diversifying its investments and adopting a lower-risk posture.
• GIC’s new framework comprises three asset groups: Equities for growth, Fixed Income for income, and Real Assets for inflation resilience.
• GIC cites over 40 years of investing in technology as the base for its AI strategy.
• Global SWF estimates GIC’s alternatives share at 39%, with 0% domestic exposure.

Source: GIC July 2026, Singapore Ministry of Finance 2026, Global SWF September 2026

Temasek Statistics

• Temasek reported a Net Portfolio Value (NPV) of S$518 billion on a mark-to-market (MTM) basis as at 31 March 2026, which it described as representing a doubling of our portfolio over the past decade.
• The five-year figure is weaker: TSR was 4.6% over five years, weighed down by headwinds in China’s capital markets from 2021 to 2024.
• In US dollar terms, one-year TSR was 14.8%, above the Singapore-dollar figure.
• During the year, Temasek invested S$51 billion and divested S$31 billion, resulting in a net investment of S$20 billion.
• Global SWF estimates Temasek’s alternatives share at 50%, with 27% domestic exposure.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Statistics

• ADIA’s 20-year and 30-year rates were respectively 6.6% and 7.2% in 2025, compared with 6.3% and 7.1% in 2024.
• ADIA increased the long-term strategy portfolio allocation range for financial alternatives to between 7% and 12%, from 5%-10%.
• ADIA said the lower percentage range for real estate reflected the relative growth of other asset classes rather than a reduction in the amount invested.
• Global SWF lists ADIA, established in 1967, at 1,128 in AuM ($b).
• ADIA’s alternatives share stands at 35%, with 0% domestic exposure, per Global SWF.

Source: ADIA 2025 Review

ADIA’s wider band sits inside a broader institutional shift toward private equity markets, where sovereign capital now competes with pension money for the same deals.

Mubadala Statistics

• Mubadala’s Assets Under Management up 17% year-on-year to AED 1.4 trillion in 2025.
• Capital deployment up 20% year-on-year to AED 143 billion, and proceeds increased 27% to AED 138 billion.
• Global SWF names Mubadala the biggest spending fund, for the second year running, with a record $33.7 billion deployed across 40 transactions.
• Global SWF lists Mubadala, established in 1984, at 385 in AuM ($b), with 65% in alternatives.

Source: Mubadala 2025 annual results, Global SWF 2026 Annual Report

Sovereign Wealth Fund Bitcoin ETF Holdings

• Mubadala Investment Co PJSC’s 13F for the quarter ended June 2026 lists 14,721,917 shares of the ISHARES BITCOIN TRUST ETF, valued at $490,092,617.
• The same filing reports GlobalFoundries at $32,928,873,232, against a value total of 34,771,171,317.
• That makes GlobalFoundries about 94.7% of the reported 13F value, and the Bitcoin ETF about 1.41%.
• Between the November and February filings, the share count rose about 45.55%.
• The next filing lifted the position about 15.9% to 14,721,917 shares, the level held in August.
• From the February filing to the August filing, reported value fell about 22.29% even as shares rose.

The pattern fits the wider institutional crypto adoption story: sovereign money reaches Bitcoin through a regulated fund wrapper rather than direct custody.

Saudi PIF Statistics

• PIF retained over $900 billion in assets under management in 2025, according to its annual report.
• From 2021 to 2025, PIF invested more than $199 billion in Saudi Arabia, the domestic engine behind its mandate.
• Global SWF lists PIF, established in 1971, at 906 in AuM ($b).
• PIF’s revenue rose 9% year on year in 2025, while net profit more than doubled.
• Of PIF’s $36.2 billion committed in 2025, Global SWF says 80% of this figure refers to the largest SWF-related deal of the year, EA Sports.

Source: PIF 2025 Annual Report via Saudi Press Agency, Global SWF 2026 Annual Report

US Sovereign Wealth Fund Statistics

• A February 3, 2025 executive order directed the Treasury and Commerce secretaries to jointly submit this plan to the President within 90 days of the date of this order.
• The order required recommendations for funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model.
• At the state level, the Alaska Permanent Fund’s permanent savings in the Principal amounted to $59.4 billion at the end of FY26.
• Alaska reported a Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) net income of $10.1 billion for FY26.
• Because the legislature made no appropriation, the FY26 inflation-proofing transfer, estimated to be $1.5 billion, did not happen.
• Global SWF lists Alaska PFC, established in 1976, at 91 in AuM ($b).

Source: Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, September 2026

Why it matters: The federal plan and the Alaska model sit far apart. The February 2025 order asked for an evaluation of the legal considerations for establishing and managing such a fund, including any need for legislation. Alaska already has what that plan had to design: a funding source, a statutory draw and an audited balance sheet reported every year.

Do any US states have a sovereign wealth fund?

Yes. Alaska is the clearest example in the filings used here: The Alaska Permanent Fund had an audited total Fund balance of $91.9 billion at the close of FY26. Global SWF classifies the Alaska fund as a sovereign wealth fund, established in 1976.

How do citizens benefit from a sovereign wealth fund?

In Alaska, earnings flow to residents through the annual draw. Realized income is available for appropriation to support inflation proofing, the annual POMV draw for dividends and government services, or other purposes, and the FY26 POMV draw to the general fund amounted to $3.8 billion.

Sovereign Wealth Fund Governance and AI Adoption

• Global SWF’s scoreboard studies the world’s 200 largest Sovereign Wealth Funds and Public Pension Funds, which manage $34.0 trillion on behalf of 76 countries.
• In a like-for-like comparison, the average GSR score of all 200 funds slightly increased to 60%.
• Two-thirds of the assessed funds are already adopting and/or investing in artificial intelligence, and half of those reported their first interaction with AI in the past year.
• The best results are found in institutions from Oceania, followed by Europe and North America.
• Middle Eastern, African and Latin American investors have averages below 50% on the scoreboard.
• IE University ties the AI push to the Gulf, noting investments particularly through investments led by Gulf and Singaporean funds.

Source: Global SWF GSR Scoreboard 2026

Sovereign funds now sit alongside the largest private managers in the global asset management rankings, yet their disclosure standards still vary widely by region.

Conclusion

Sovereign wealth fund assets under management surpassed a record $15.1 trillion, and the ranking remains top-heavy: Norway, China, Singapore and the Gulf supply the top six funds, from NBIM at 2,284 down to KIA at 1,002 in Global SWF’s AuM ($b) column. The self-reported returns show the trade-off plainly. The funds with the lowest-risk mandates report the lowest long-run numbers, and the concentrated, domestically focused funds report the highest.

The next test is disclosure. Quarterly 13F filings already give a partial window into sovereign crypto exposure, alongside the flows tracked in spot Bitcoin ETF statistics, while the federal US plan still has no audited balance sheet to compare with Alaska’s.