SOFAZ plans to invest in Turkey

/By Azernews/

By Nigar Abbasova

Azerbaijan State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) is considering the possibility of making investment in Turkey, the Fund’s CEO Shahmar Movsumov said.

He also mentioned that the fund constantly examines possibilities of investment making in different countries of the world.

Speaking about the geography of assets allocated by the fund’s asset allocation he said that about 60.46 percent of the assets are in the European countries.

As much as 20 percent falls to a share of North America while the share of Australia is 3.62. Asian-Pacific region accounts for 11.80 percent, while the assets in the Middle East, South America and Africa are 0.63, 0.27 and 3.21 percent respectively.  As much as 3.21 percent of the fund’s assets are in the international financial organizations.

The assets of the fund have increased by 2 percent as of April 2016, as compared to the beginning of the year. The assets increased from $33.57 billion up to $34.25 billion.

Talking about the deal on the purchase of real estate in Milan, Italy, Movsumov said that the deal has been totally closed. He also mentioned that the fund faced no obstacles in the process of real estate acquisition. “We have already become the owners of the object,” he added.

SOFAZ reached an agreement with the sovereign-wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Qatar on the investment of $380 million to purchase and develop three separate properties in Milan. The fund has acquired Palazzo Turati, an office property in Milan's historical Central Business District, for €97 million with the aim to further diversify its real estate portfolio. This is the first property acquisition of SOFAZ in Italy. Alongside with Italy the fund has properties in the UK, France, Russia, South Korea and Japan.  

Earlier, the fund’s chief investment advisor Ziya Kangarli said that SOFAZ plans to increase the profitability of asset management in the years to come. The advisor also emphasized that increasing the share of real estate in the fund's portfolio is not a random decision either, as it is one of the most popular and profitable assets, particularly in developed countries. The economic indicators show that SOFAZ is on the right path.

Currently, as much as 4.6 percent of the investment portfolio falls to a share of real estate while the share of gold amounts to 3.1 percent. Some 80.6 percent of the investment portfolio is placed in bonds.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million. The funds of the entity may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructural objects as well as for tackling national problems.

Main objectives of the fund include accumulation of resources and the placement of the fund’s assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effects on the economy, to promote resource accumulation for future generations and to support current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.