Abu Dhabi wealth fund culls Japan team, seeking new growth areas

Abu Dhabi wealth fund culls Japan team, seeking new growth areas

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has reconfigured the way it invests in Japanese stocks, part of a wider shift by the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund to focus on areas with more growth potential.

The fund, known as ADIA, closed a small team that focused on Japanese equities and three portfolio managers left, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the information is confidential.

It will continue to invest in Japanese equities but only through its external managers and as part of a passive portfolio, the people said. An ADIA spokesperson confirmed the fund had changed its approach to investing in Japanese equities but declined to comment further.

Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf, where governments are struggling to absorb the impact of lower oil prices, have been making