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Meanwhile, in Doha, another QH executive, Hussain Al Abdulla declares: "Anything at the right price I'm willing to buy."

Such remarks provide a rare insight into the activities of the usually secretive fund, which competes against larger, more experienced sovereign wealth funds and is on the hunt for top tier brands or strategic assets that have a development angle for Qatar.

Bankers, however, say that Qatar's scatter-gun approach of late has been hard to understand.

Building stakes in Total and Shell - amid rumours it's also sizing up Italy's Eni - hardly squares with attempts to diversify its assets away from oil and gas. It also built a stake in Lagardere, the publishing house behind Paris Match and Elle, while its sister fund has built a stake in Germany's Siemens.

But according to sources close to QH, "it is not necessarily correct to label the investment institution as 'opportunistic'. From time-to-time opportunities arise to invest in high quality businesses, both listed and unlisted, in a meaningful way. Sometimes, the prevailing macroeconomic environment creates a large number of such opportunities".

QH's stake in Xstrata, which is valued at around £2.4bn, has spooked other shareholders who worry the stake building has tipped the balance Glencore's way as it tries to win over enough of the Swiss miner's shareholders to back a proposed $90bn merger. But a sources said: "QH is generally supportive of management and not agitating for change."

Mr Al-Sayed has also stressed the firm's ambitions in the commodities sector, saying the recent lack of investment across the sector points to looming shortages and a price spike from 2016. QH has also been looking at direct investments into mines as well as building its Xstrata stake.

But across all of Qatar's investments there is usually more than one angle. This can be put down to "relationship investing", strategic thinking or sometimes just desperation to put money to work. One example is the 5.98pc stake in Credit Suisse, which is matched by ownership of the bank's HQ, and the decision to use them as advisers.

The staging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has accelerated Qatari investments into football, whether through funds like QH or directly from the royal purse. "Wherever they put money, there will be more coming, from a different source - but with a single mindset behind it all," said one City source.

Where you see the direct pay back for the wider population of the country is in investments like Porsche and Volkswagen, which has led to science parks being built in Doha with intellectual property coming from both the car manufacturers.

But Qatar's opulence is relatively new. By an accident of geography, this one-time impoverished British protectorate - for a long time most closely associated with pearl fishing - has transformed into a monied principality with more hold on Europe than the old Venetian trading empire.

It now finds itself sitting on 26 trillion cubic metres of gas – the world's third largest reserve. As a result, its per capita income has soared to $83,000 - second only to the banking enclave of Liechtenstein.

Its ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who trained at Sandhurst and sent his son to Dorset's Sherborne public school, took the throne from his father in a peaceful coup when the latter was holidaying in Switzerland. Since then, the Sheikh has been super-sizing the emir's global political and economic influence - as well as the nation's sporting prowess.

This has included becoming a pivotal military ally to the US and the region's ground breaking Al Jazeera media network which helped shine light and galvanise the Arab Spring.

But Qatar has deduced that it will only raise its profile if it flexes its financial muscles in Europe, where rival investors are having such a torrid time.