Qatar sovereign fund sees choppy markets ahead

HONG KONG, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which manages the energy exporter's surplus revenues, expects financial markets to remain volatile for at least the next year, the agency's private equity chief said on Wednesday.

"I think it will continue to be a bit choppy for at least the next 12 to 18 months," Kenneth Shen, head of strategic and private equity, told a conference in Hong Kong.

"Clearly the intervention package will go a long way to stabilise the markets. But in some ways the challenges and issues are still significantly larger".

The executive added that "if you look at the market for credit derivatives it far exceeds the size of the U.S. assistance package."

The remarks offered a rare insight into the strategy of one of the secretive funds that control hundreds of billions of dollars in Gulf Arab government assets after a tripling of oil prices in the past five years.

"Clearly many of the significant shocks may be behind us. But it's not clear at this point whether or not we've turned the corner," Shen said.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty, Writing by Jeffrey Hodgson)