(Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi’s biggest wealth fund hired the finance chief of a JD.com Inc. unit to help oversee its private equity investments in China, at a time the United Arab Emirates is increasing its bets on emerging markets.
Former Jingdong Industrials Inc. Chief Financial Officer Hugo Hu has joined Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as China chief in its private equities unit, a spokesperson for the fund said in response to a query from Bloomberg News.
A JD.com representative declined to comment.
Hu joined JD Group, a leading Chinese e-commerce platform, in 2021 first as head of the strategic investment unit before he assumed duties as Jingdong Industrials’ CFO in December 2022.
His departure from Jingdong Industrials comes as JD.com Inc.’s subsidiary seeks to list in Hong Kong. Before JD, he worked for Warburg Pincus for about a decade.
ADIA, which controls almost $1 trillion of assets, is channeling more of its financial firepower into private equity. Meanwhile, companies and funds in the UAE, of which Abu Dhabi is a part, have been forging close links with China and India, bolstering investments and trade ties by inking agreements worth billions of dollars.
The Gulf country recently joined the BRICS grouping of major emerging markets, which includes both those Asian nations.
ADIA is chaired by UAE royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who oversees an empire that includes artificial intelligence firm G42. Hu’s predecessor at JD Group was tapped by G42’s $10 billion tech fund 42X to lead its Shanghai office, Bloomberg News has previously reported.
–With assistance from Sarah Zheng and Edwin Chan.
(Updates with details in lead, 6th paragraph)
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