The Kuwait Investment Authority is a sovereign wealth fund established to manage the assets of the State of Kuwait, which are predominantly generated from oil revenues, by investing in companies, private equity and hedge funds outside and inside Kuwait.

KIA’s history dates back to 1953 when the Kuwait Investment Office was set up in London to manage funds on behalf of the Kuwaiti government. The Kuwait Investment Authority was set up in 1982 as the Kuwaiti government’s investment arm and rolled the KIO in as its branch in London.

KIA's total assets under management are estimated at USD213 billion as of 2007 and are distributed into two major funds. The first fund, the General Reserve Fund, has a mandate to invest government assets regionally and internationally by participating in public enterprises and organizations such as the World Bank, IMF and the Arab Fund. The second fund is the Future Generation Fund (FGF), which is mandated to create a savings pool to diversify the country’s source of revenues and create a buffer for future Kuwaiti generations. The FGF is structured as a diversified portfolio with the purpose of investing in economies outside of Kuwait. Some of its major investments include acquiring stakes in BP, Daimler, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Merrill Lynch, VISA and Citigroup.