Fitch Affirms PIF at A+, Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Mamoura at AA on Virtually Certain Support

By The Edge Research Team

Fitch affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund at A+ and Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Mamoura at AA on 29 October, equalising each state investment fund with its government’s rating.

For investors in the funds’ bonds and sukuk, all three outlooks are Stable, and the agency judges extraordinary state support as virtually certain in every case. It assigns none of them a standalone credit profile, which it calls “not meaningful” for PIF and “irrelevant” for Mamoura.

Each fund is classed as a government-related entity, and its long-term issuer default ratings are set level with its government’s: Saudi Arabia at A+ for PIF, and the Government of Abu Dhabi at AA for ADQ and Mamoura, both with Stable outlooks. The short-term rating is F1+ for all three, and their rated bonds, sukuk and note programmes are rated in line with the funds.

Ratings affirmed on 29 October (support score out of 60)

Long-term issuer default ratings, all with Stable outlooks and F1+ short-term ratings; PIF is equalised with Saudi Arabia (A+), and ADQ and Mamoura with the Government of Abu Dhabi (AA). The support score measures the likelihood of government support under the agency’s criteria for government-related entities; it does not rank the funds by standalone financial strength.

PIF scores the maximum 60 on government support

The Saudi fund receives the highest possible support score, 60, a mark it shares in the agency’s peer group only with Bahrain’s Bapco Energies. The agency describes PIF as Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and a principal government investment vehicle, overseen by the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and aligned with Saudi Vision 2030.

The history of state backing is long. Cumulative government contributions reached SAR 1,550 billion by the end of 2025, equal to 34% of consolidated assets. The support has come in cash and in kind, including land, listed equity stakes and shares in Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), in which PIF holds 16% directly and indirectly.

At the holding company level, equity funding from the government accounts for more than 90% of total assets.

PIF’s board approved a 2026 to 2030 strategy in April 2026. It keeps the fund’s domestic development mandate while putting more weight on portfolio performance, investment efficiency and drawing in private capital, which the agency sees as consistent with PIF’s established policy role.

The fund also sets the benchmark for Saudi public-sector borrowers abroad. It sold $2 billion of sukuk in January and $7 billion of bonds in May. Its local-currency rating corresponds to AAA(sau), the top of the Saudi national scale.

Its 2025 results, set out earlier from the fund’s annual report, show revenue up 9% and net profit more than doubled, helped by higher dividends from portfolio companies and financial investment returns. Assets under management stayed above $900 billion.

PIF: state backing and 2026 market access

Contributions are cumulative to 31 December 2025. Issues are the two 2026 deals named in the rating commentary.

ADQ lifts 2025 net profit 66% to AED 43 billion

ADQ’s net profit rose 66% to AED 43 billion in 2025. Operating profit grew much faster than revenue, lifting the operating margin to 29.4% from 21.7%.

The mix shifted too. Transport and logistics became the largest source of revenue in 2025, ahead of energy and utilities, in a portfolio that also spans aviation, food and agriculture, healthcare and financial services.

Equity kept pace with a larger balance sheet, funding 52.3% of total assets at the end of 2025 against 52.4% a year earlier. Total assets rose 8.1% to AED 996.8 billion.

Support continued in cash and kind. Shareholder contributions totalled AED 10.1 billion in 2025, and government grants received in cash added AED 2.1 billion. Deferred government grants stood at AED 91.3 billion at the end of the year.

In January 2026 the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs consolidated ADQ’s assets and investments with those of L’IMAD Holding Company under L’IMAD. The agency calls it the most significant change to ADQ’s ownership since its previous review, and says it does not alter its view of very strong government oversight.

ADQ’s 2025 accounts (in AED billions)

Consolidated figures for 2024 and 2025, with assets and equity at year end, as given in the rating commentary; changes are The Edge’s calculations.

Mamoura’s profit rises to AED 47.2 billion

Mamoura, the Mubadala Investment Company subsidiary that invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, raised its profit for the year 26.9% to AED 47.2 billion in 2025. Of that, AED 42 billion, or 89%, was attributable to Mubadala.

Revenue from continuing operations rose 28.9% to AED 50.9 billion. Private equity contributed the most, AED 28.2 billion, ahead of UAE investments and of credit and special situations. It was a year shaped by acquisitions, led by the purchase of CI Financial.

Investment gains did most of the work. Net investment income rose 61.6% to AED 57.4 billion. Income from equity-accounted investees nearly doubled, to AED 8.7 billion.

Capital stayed strong: total equity rose 13.3% to AED 435.5 billion. The agency puts that at an estimated 59% of consolidated assets. The group has historically retained its earnings for reinvestment rather than paying dividends to its shareholder.

Mamoura is also a reference issuer for the Abu Dhabi government. Its borrowings reached AED 190.3 billion at end-2025; they are the fund’s own obligations, not government debt. Fitch said they equal an estimated 82% of Abu Dhabi’s gross government debt, one reason the agency rates its contagion risk as very strong.

Mamoura’s 2025 results (in AED billions)

Revenue is from continuing operations. Changes are on 2024 as given in the rating commentary, except profit and equity, which are The Edge’s calculations from the 2024 figures of AED 37.2 billion and AED 384.4 billion.

Government links anchor the ratings as borrowing rises

Part of that growth has been funded with debt. Mamoura’s total liabilities rose 43% to AED 303.5 billion, far outpacing equity, because it raised debt to fund investments and consolidated CI Financial. Its net adjusted debt to EBITDA, on the agency’s own measure, rose to 12.3 times from 7.8 times.

The agency also notes that Mamoura’s profits lean on investment income and equity-accounted gains rather than recurring cash earnings. ADQ’s loans and borrowings rose 12.6% to AED 233 billion. They include bonds under its medium-term note programme, and ADQ added a $5 billion five-year syndicated term facility in October 2025.

For PIF, the agency describes funding needs as substantial, given continued domestic investment and development commitments, and notes that valuations of some investments declined in 2025. It expects asset monetisations and portfolio cash generation to become more important funding sources under the new strategy.

The ratings move with those of the two governments. A rating action on Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi would lead to a matching action on the funds; for PIF and ADQ, an upgrade also requires an unchanged support assessment. A support score below 45 would lead to a downgrade of PIF and could lead to one for Mamoura.

In The Edge’s reading, the affirmations rest on support that all three commentaries assess as virtually certain, not on the funds’ leverage.

Ratings, support scores and financial figures are from the three rating action commentaries of 29 October 2026; percentages, sums and comparisons not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.

Primary source: Fitch Ratings, rating action commentaries on Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company PJSC and Mamoura Diversified Global Holding PJSC, 29 October 2026.

Sources: Fitch Ratings, The Edge.

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