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Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds Spent $26 Billion on Deals During Iran War
The region's five largest spenders deployed capital at a faster rate than in the prior five years while the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. A peace deal has now been signed.
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Gulf sovereign wealth funds spent almost $26 billion on deals in March, April, and May 2026 even as the Strait of Hormuz stayed closed during the Iran war. The region's five biggest spenders deployed capital at a higher rate than in any of the previous five years, Semafor reported. Wael Younan, co-head of sovereign wealth management at TCW, said the funds “did not step back.
He spoke Thursday at Semafor’s The Gulf’s Golden Age, Interrupted conference. Younan said the funds are directing money toward infrastructure, AI, defense, and healthcare, taking advantage of liquidity to purchase assets others must sell. A peace deal ending the Iran war has now been signed.
Dennis Jol, CEO of AIQ, said the war and the Strait of Hormuz closure demonstrated the value of faster, automated decisions across oil networks. Jol said the disruptions strengthened AIQ’s case to energy companies because operators could now see immediate returns from systems that decide which wells to turn off or on, which pipelines require rerouting, and how to adjust flows in real time.
The conference took place one day after the peace agreement was announced.
