Qatar fund loses $6bn in 10 days

Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund lost $5.9 billion on paper in 10 days from its stakes in Volkswagen and Glencore.

Qatar Investment Authority, the biggest holder of VW's preferred shares and the third-largest owner of its common shares, lost about $4.8 billion from its holdings of the automaker. The wealth fund is also the largest investor in the mining company Glencore, a stake that declined by about $1.1 billion in the same period. The loss calculations assume the fund hasn't added to or reduced its holdings since the latest disclosures.

The ownership data are based on Bloomberg compilations from the latest available regulatory filings. Daniela Fleischmann, a spokeswoman for the fund at Finsbury, declined to comment on the holdings. VW tumbled two weeks ago after the carmaker said it cheated on emissions rules in the US Glencore has plunged along with metal prices and growing investor concerns that the firm is not moving quickly enough to cut its debt load. The sovereign wealth fund held a stake of almost 13 per cent in VW's preferred shares and 17 per cent in the ordinary stock, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It owned about 8.2 per cent of Glencore.

Reuters