At the portfolio company level – Portfolio companies typically grow organically or through acquisitions according to their own respective strategy.
At the ICD parent level – ICD supports the development of strategic portfolio companies where required. In addition, as the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai, ICD carries out its own investment activities. In recent years, ICD’s investment strategy has been increasingly focused on portfolio diversification through allocation of capital across asset classes and key geographies in partnership with external fund managers, as discussed in the Investment Strategy section.
Funding also takes place at two levels:
At the portfolio company level – Portfolio companies typically have direct access to a variety of funding sources and use their cumulative profits and external funding to fund their expansion. Portfolio companies typically monitor and manage conservatively their leverage through investment, risk and governance frameworks.
At the ICD parent level – ICD parent is self-funding and does not typically receive funding or seek support from the Government of Dubai. ICD parent occasionally receives non-monetary contributions from the Government of Dubai such as ownership interests in companies;
– ICD’s principal sources of income are dividends received from all its portfolio companies, profits on exits and supplementary investment returns; and
– ICD also, from time to time, may solicit third party funding to support its activities. ICD monitors and manages this leverage conservatively through objectives set within ICD’s investment, risk and governance frameworks.
Return to our shareholder, the Government
ICD makes distributions to the Government of Dubai dependent on the dividends it receives from its portfolio companies and on future growth plans and investment plans.