Bahrain's wealth fund moves towards liquidity 

(MENAFN) Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund (Mumtalakat), which invests mostly at its home-country, plans to diversify away from private equity projects and into stocks and bonds, The Peninsula reported.

Chief Executive Officer, Talal Al Zain, said that Mumtalakat expects to receive a credit rating in 2010, which would allow it to tackle capital markets for funding, including Islamic bonds.

Mumtalakat, which has assets of around 10 billion, has investments in 35 firms, and it owns stakes above 50 percent in more than 15 of those firms.

The wealth fund plans to diversify its investments and will be looking into investing oversees and channeling funds towards liquidity, Zain said.

A 1 billion motor sports-themed commercial property project in the kingdom was likely to be financed by a combination of investment from strategic investors, private sector funding and some of its own equity, he added.