The Scoop
US-based Guggenheim Partners Investment Management — which manages $335 billion in assets — is considering establishing a regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia, Anne Walsh, the firm’s Chief Investment Officer, told Semafor.
“We are working through understanding the regulatory criteria,” she said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. “We were just in Saudi last month. We’ve got a very strong, positive future assessment, so I think there’s a real possibility.”
Guggenheim has an office in Dubai, and Walsh said the firm is looking to expand in the Gulf. While Guggenheim primarily invests in the US, it is eyeing infrastructure opportunities in the region, she said.
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More than 500 companies have set up their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia since 2020, including Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Citigroup, driven by a carrot and stick approach: Saudi Arabia presents attractive opportunities as it spends heavily to diversify its economy, but companies risk losing access to certain government contracts if they don’t set up in the kingdom — which requires establishing a regional office.
Separately, Walsh said there’s growing demand for private credit from the region’s big investors, a trend she described as a “permanent shift” in capital markets as borrowing increasingly moves to private investors. Despite concerns about transparency, Walsh said there’s no systemic risk. “Companies are in good shape relative to history, and leverage levels are lower, generally,” she said. “I think it’s a very good tailwind.”