• BlackRock is the world’s most valuable asset management brand at $8.3 billion while J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the strongest asset management brand ranked
• PIF ranked as the most valuable sovereign wealth fund brand and fastest-growing in terms of brand value
• The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is the strongest sovereign wealth fund brand

For the second year, BlackRock is ranked as the world’s most valuable asset management (AM) brand with a value of USD8.3 billion, and PIF is the most valuable and fastest-growing sovereign wealth fund (SWF), according to the latest data from Brand Finance, the world’s leading independent brand valuation consultancy.

The Asset Management and Sovereign Wealth Fund 50 2025 is the second iteration of the Brand Finance annual ranking of the world’s strongest and most valuable AM and SWF brands.

The collective value of the 50 ranked brands has grown 5% year on year, totaling nearly USD73.9 billion in 2025.

BlackRock’s brand value has risen 17% in 2025, largely driven by a surge in assets under management, strategic acquisitions in private markets, and continued leadership in technology and AI.

The coming months will be pivotal for the asset management giant and its ongoing efforts to carve out a share of private markets, as BlackRock announced 1 July it took over HPS Investment Partners, closing a trio of acquisitions totalling USD30.0 billion.

PIF has the single most valuable brand name among the world’s SWFs; valued at USD1.2 billion, up 11% from 2024.

It also ranked seventh for brand value to AUM ratio among all AM and SWF brands combined, the only SWF to feature in the top 10. PIF’s assets under management have grown rapidly due to robust portfolio performance, driven by a range of key portfolio companies and long-term projects that are beginning to mature.

Vanguard’s brand value is roughly the same as in 2024 at USD6.0 billion, enough to hold onto its third place spot for the second year in a row.

JP Morgan also remains the world’s strongest AM & SWF brand ranked, boasting a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 87.6 out of 100, followed closely by BlackRock with a BSI score of 87.0 out of 100. Both achieve an AAA brand strength rating.

PIF’s value is largely driven by high scores for the brand’s awareness, purpose and commitment to positive growth.

Among the other notable high-ranking SWFs, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is the strongest SWF brand, scoring 64.1 out of 100. PIF’s own BSI is 62.9 out of 100, an increase from last year and both brands achieve an A+ brand strength rating.

David Haigh, Chairman and CEO, Brand Finance, commented:

“Brand Finance research finds that high-profile investments with a positive impact continue to build the brand values of asset managers and sovereign wealth funds. This is evident in the impact of successful sports partnerships, which deliver an observable uplift in awareness and familiarity among B2B and informed audience. Formula 1 and football are powerful and popular ways for asset managers and sovereign wealth funds to raise their international profiles in a way that is consistent with the brands’ wealth and stature. For instance, JP Morgan’s banking division Chase just became the first sponsor of Arsenal FC’s VIP Lounge. In 2024, PIF signed groundbreaking global partnerships accelerating the growth of sports with ATP and WTA tennis, Concacaf and Formula E, Extreme E and E1 under the E360 umbrella while its ownership of LIV Golf has brought a new global audience to the game.”

The agreement includes both cash and equity components and runs for one year.

Telegram users will soon begin seeing Grok inside the app, a xAI aims to push its chatbot into mainstream digital communication. Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, confirmed the deal in a post on X, saying, “Together, we win!”

xAI will also split subscription revenue generated through the app with Telegram, handing the platform 50% of all earnings linked to Grok subscriptions. For xAI, this is a data-driven initiative that will scale its AI vision and reach more than a billion users globally.

Unlike previous partnerships that largely focused on infrastructure or financial services, this one is squarely aimed at user engagement and behavioural data. With most public AI training repositories now heavily mined, firms like xAI are working to find new, meaningful sources of interaction data. That’s where platforms like Telegram come in.

However, privacy is highly important. xAI’s affiliate company, X (formerly Twitter), already uses public posts to train its AI models. Whether Telegram user data will be harvested in the same way is not yet known. Neither company responded to requests for clarification.

Telegram, meanwhile, is moving fast on the financial aspect. The company is currently raising $1.5 billion through a bond sale, with backing from investors including BlackRock, Mubadala, and Citadel. The goal is to buy back debt from its earlier bond issue in 2021 and strengthen its balance sheet.

Within hours of the Grok deal becoming public, the TON token, Telegram’s blockchain-linked digital currency, surged by over 18%, jumping from $3.28 to $3.55. The increase started before the official announcement.

With Grok’s integration, Telegram is expected to roll out AI-enhanced features including threaded replies, real-time text summarisation, document previews, and smart chat moderation. These tools could change user experience on the app, especially in high-volume group settings.

Beyond its immediate results, the partnership places xAI in a stronger position to compete against established companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. However, the cost at which the scale will come is not yet known, especially to user privacy.

This expands Moove’s footprint in Latin America, adding to its operations across 19 cities on six continents. The acquisition increases Moove’s total fleet to 36,000 vehicles and boosts its annual revenue to $275 million. 

Kovi, founded in 2018, has built a strong presence in Brazil and Mexico by providing flexible vehicle access to ride-hailing drivers. The company’s proprietary IoT software and driver behaviour algorithms will now be integrated into Moove’s operations, enhancing efficiency and safety.

Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, said, “Kovi has built an impressive business with a robust presence in Brazil, one of the most dynamic mobility markets in the world. We’re thrilled to welcome them to the Moove family. This transaction not only strengthens our footprint in Latin America and reinforces our position as a dominant player in global mobility, but it also underscores our commitment to contributing to the Brazilian economy.”

Moove, which started operations in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2020, has greatly expanded, securing partnerships with companies like Uber. It offers financing solutions to ride-hailing and delivery drivers and has recently ventured into autonomous vehicle technology.

Kovi’s CEO, Adhemar Milani Neto, also shared his view about the deal. “Today, we stand at the forefront of a new era in mobility, and we believe that Moove has done a fantastic job at scaling their business on a global scale and with the right strategic angles. I met the founders many years back when they were scaling their business in Africa, and I was immediately impressed by their purpose-driven approach, which is also a perfect match to our culture. Together, I believe we will become a truly global category-defining business and will leverage scale and deep expertise never seen in our market.”

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Moove confirmed that it was an all-share transaction, making Kovi a wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval from Brazilian authorities.

Moove has raised over $500 million in debt and equity funding from major investors, including Uber, BlackRock, and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC). 

While Delano declined to comment on future fundraising plans, he emphasised that the company is focused on achieving profitability and scaling its mobility solutions worldwide.

Coming from 97 investors, though their identities remain undisclosed in the filing, the investment round attracted companies including Andreessen Horowitz, BlackRock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings, and Nvidia, among others. 

xAI later confirmed that these funds have brought its total capital raised to $12 billion, following a previous $6 billion secured earlier this year. Reports reveal xAI is targeting a valuation of $50 billion, double its worth from six months ago.

xAI, founded in 2023, has been focused on integrating its flagship AI model, Grok, into various applications. Grok powers a range of features on X (formerly Twitter), including a chatbot for premium and select free users. 

Known for its unconventional style, Grok is marketed as a “truth-seeking” AI with fewer biases, although it has been criticised for its limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

The model has also been embedded in other functions on X, such as image generation, news summarisation, and analytics enhancements. xAI recently launched an API allowing third-party developers to integrate Grok into their platforms and introduced a standalone app for iOS.

While xAI continues to grow, the company is working to tackle challenges from rivals and regulators. Musk’s company has accused OpenAI and its collaborator, Microsoft, of limiting competition by allegedly restricting investor opportunities and benefiting from exclusive partnerships. 

Again, Tesla shareholders are having issues with Musk’s diversion of resources to xAI, even filing lawsuits against him.

Nonetheless, xAI is generating significant revenue, reportedly around $100 million annually. However, this pales in comparison to competitors like OpenAI, which is projected to earn $4 billion by the end of 2024.

Data Centre Expansion and Future Plans

xAI is scaling its operations really fast. The company built a data centre in Memphis in just four months, with 100,000 Nvidia GPUs, and has secured approval to double its capacity next year. 

The Memphis facility, partly powered by diesel generators, has been commended as well as criticised. While xAI has committed to improving local infrastructure, residents are unhappy about environmental issues over the stress on resources.

Tesla is expected to utilise xAI’s upgraded infrastructure to refine its autonomous driving systems, while xAI continues to train the next generation of Grok models at the facility.

AI Industry Competition

xAI’s growth comes with competition from rival companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, which have also raised billions to bolster their operations. 

Anthropic recently secured $4 billion from Amazon, while OpenAI added $6.6 billion to its reserves, bringing its total funding to nearly $18 billion.

iShares ETF, which included investments in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, is being liquidated owing to rough economic times and currency issues.

Approved by the iShares Board of Directors, the closure comes as these markets struggle with liquidity problems and restrictions on currency repatriation. 

These difficulties have been compounded by the weakening of local currencies like the Nigerian naira, making it increasingly difficult for investors to manage their assets effectively.

In a statement, iShares outlined that the fund will enter an extended liquidation period, with the final day of trading anticipated to be March 31, 2025. During this period, the fund will divest its holdings across various markets and hold the proceeds in cash and cash equivalents. The process of converting local currencies, particularly the naira, will influence the timing of this liquidation.

“Currency conversions, including the conversion of Nigeria’s naira, will impact the timing of the fund’s liquidation,” iShares stated. The fund will cease trading and the creation and redemption of creation units will halt no earlier than August 12, 2024, but as soon as practicable thereafter.

African equities have lost their appeal to foreign investors due to low returns compared to other asset classes and currency scarcity in markets like Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya.

The iShares ETF had previously held huge investments in Kenyan companies, such as Safaricom, Equity Group, and KCB Group, with a $5.2 million investment in Kenya alone.

Despite actions to promote fair and transparent investment opportunities in these regions, the challenging economic environment has led many foreign investors to reconsider their positions. The fund also had exposure to other markets including Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, and Vietnam, among others.

International investors are pulling out of local bourses due to the tough economic climate, company downsizing, and currency devaluation. This period speaks volume of the need for better liquidity management and economic stability to attract and retain foreign investments.

The closure of the iShares ETF also reiterates the implications for local economies that rely heavily on foreign investment. Moving forward, these markets will need to address these underlying issues to regain investor confidence and stabilize their financial sector.

The report noted that BlackRock, the biggest asst management company in the world, said it is buying Global Infrastructure Partners, a company founded by Adebayo Ogunlesi.

According to a report by Arbiterz, Blackrock is to pay $3bn in cash and offer Ogunlesi and five other co-founders of Global Infrastructure Partners 12 million shares in Blackrock, thus making them the second biggest shareholders in the global asset management giant.

Global Infrastructure Partners has $106bn invested in infrastructure, while Blackrock manages $10tn worth of alternative assets.

Ogunlesi, an alumnus of King’s College Lagos and Harvard University, was chief client officer and vice chairman at Credit Suisse First Boston before leaving to start Global Infrastructure Partners.

His profile grew in Nigeria after Global Infrastructure Partners bought Gatwick Airport. The main assets of GIP, of which Ogunlesi is chairman, include Sydney, the Port of Melbourne, the Suez Water group, extensive green energy holdings, and a stake in a big shale oil pipeline.

Investment in infrastructure is considered an “alternative asset” class for traditional money managers like BlackRock. The deal makes Blackrock the second biggest private investor and manager of infrastructure in the world.

Ogunlesi says that some of the cash and shares will be distributed to Global Infrastructure Partners’ 400 employees.

Ogunlesi’s exploits in the world of global private infrastructure management often provoke a discussion about Nigeria’s economically ruinous infrastructure deficit and his native country’s lack of policies and incentives to tap into the deals-hungry world of private infrastructure investment.

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Infrastructure and the Nigerian Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the vast bureaucracy in charge of private investment in infrastructure have not done a major successful deal in more than 10 years.