London-based Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), the international arm of one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, has seen a surge in assets under management (AUM).

The value of AUM reached $250 billion this year, up from $27 billion in 2003, Bloomberg reported citing Saad Al-Barrak, Chairman of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund.

Al-Barrak was in London on Tuesday for the KIO’s 70th anniversary.

Founded in 1953, the sovereign wealth fund is the oldest in the world. The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute earlier reported that KIA has around $803 billion in assets.

The value was the fifth highest in the world and second in the Arab world as of April this year. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority took the number one position among Arab countries and fourth globally, with an asset value of $853 billion.

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria) seban.scaria@lseg.com