Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has marked a 8.7% surge in shareholders' returns since the launch of its Vision Realisation Program (VRP) 2021-2025. “Significant strides were made toward Vision 2030 objectives through strategic investments, economic diversification and focus on quality of life,” PIF governor Yasir Bin Othman Al-Rumayyan said in the wealth fund’s annual report.

Here are the key takeaways from the wealth fund’s financial report:

- Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) revealed a 29% year-on-year increase in Assets under Management (AuM), reaching 2.87 trillion ($765 billion) at the end of 2023. AuM rose further to $925 billion by July 2024

- Total AuM for PIF’s international pools and programmes reached SAR 586 billion in 2023, an increase of 14.3% compared to the previous year

- PIF’s International Diversified Pool (IDP) and the International Capital Markets Program grew total AuM across its portfolio to SAR 190 billion

- Total net cash returns for both Saudi Sector Development (SSD) and Saudi Equity Holdings (SEH) pools reached SAR 42 billion for 2023

- The sixth largest sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in the world now has a portfolio of more than 200 companies across the MENA region

Key milestones in 2003 include:

  • The launch of Diriyah Company as the fifth giga-project
  • The announcement of Riyadh Air, a new national airline to launch in 2025
  • The creation of pharmaceutical investment company Lifera
  • A joint venture with Ma’aden to create Manara Minerals for mining exploration and investments
  • The launch of New Murabba Development Company to develop downtown Riyadh
  • The launch of Al Balad Development Company to develop historic Jeddah district of Al Balad

- The SWF raised $5.5 billion through its second green bond issuance and $3.5 billion via its inaugural sukuk issuance in 2023

- PIF has set an annual average investment of SAR 150 billion ($40 billion) in the local Saudi economy

- The fund has set a target to double the size of its assets to more than SAR 4 trillion by 2025, driving PIF and its subsidiaries’ contribution to non-oil GDP to a cumulative SAR 1.2 trillion

- PIF created over 763,000 direct and indirect jobs as of Q1 2024

(Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)

bindu.rai@lseg.com