The News
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund will gradually tilt the balance of its $930 billion portfolio, decreasing the share of foreign assets and directing more capital toward local investments, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund, said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
Since his 2015 appointment, PIF has grown from a $150 billion fund — with just 2% of assets abroad — to a global giant, with 30% of assets now internationally invested, Al-Rumayyan said. The strategy now is to scale down foreign assets to 18-20% while accelerating investments in the 92 Saudi companies — from real estate projects like Neom and Red Sea Global, to smart manufacturing firm Alat and video-game and esports Savvy Games. PIF established these companies to drive the kingdom’s economic transformation.
“All of these companies are big investors in new sectors that were not in existence in Saudi Arabia,” Al-Rumayyan said. “People are seeing the difference, from their perception of Saudi Arabia back in 2015.”
Know More
Despite the shift, Saudi Arabia’s foreign assets will rise in value because of the projected growth of the fund, and the kingdom will continue to invest abroad, Al-Rumayyan said.
Artificial intelligence is a key growth area. Saudi Arabia is “well positioned to be a global hub” in AI because of abundant energy and land needed to build data centers, Al-Rumayyan said. “It’s not only fossil fuels that we have, but we have most technologies in renewable energies.”