Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) increased its US equity holdings to $23.8 billion by the second quarter of 2025, up from $20.6 billion a year earlier, according to its latest Form-13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing showed positions across 57 equities and options, compared to 38 a year before, with a sharply different composition.
The sovereign wealth fund exited stakes in Meta, PayPal, Alibaba, Shopify, and other social-media and e-commerce firms, while significantly boosting its position in electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group by nearly 400 million shares and more than doubling its stake in Arm Holdings. It also added positions in Apple, ASML, Analog Devices, and US healthcare leaders including UnitedHealth, Eli Lilly, and Merck, underscoring a strategic pivot toward semiconductors and healthcare.
PIF, a central pillar of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 diversification strategy, has a dual mandate to deliver financial returns and accelerate the Kingdom’s economic transformation. It invests heavily both at home and abroad, channeling capital into global markets and domestic sectors like tourism, infrastructure, and technology.
According to Global SWF, PIF’s assets under management reached $1.15 trillion in 2025, making it the world’s fourth-largest sovereign wealth fund. While its portfolio expanded, net profit fell 60 percent in 2024 to SR26 billion, weighed down by higher interest rates, impairments, and project delays. The fund has since tightened performance management, raised liquidity through commercial paper and sukuk, and shifted its focus toward revenue-generating assets.
Private Equity Insights reported that nearly 37 percent of PIF’s portfolio is allocated to alternatives such as private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure, and real estate. More than two-thirds of its investments are domestic, with over $171 billion deployed since 2021—about 10 percent of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP.
The fund has also pushed forward with high-profile deals. In May 2025, it signed agreements with Franklin Templeton, Neuberger Berman, and Northern Trust to channel up to $12 billion into Saudi markets and set up a multi-asset platform in Riyadh. That same week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Humain, a PIF-backed AI company developing cloud and data infrastructure. PIF’s Elm subsidiary also agreed to acquire Thiqah for SR3.4 billion, further reinforcing its role in building national champions.
Internationally, PIF is weighing a $15 billion investment in Brazil’s renewable energy and hydrogen industries and has committed around $200 million to a Manhattan real estate project with Related Companies. However, challenges remain: Reuters reported the fund wrote down $8 billion on giga-projects, reflecting scaled-back ambitions, while rising funding costs and tighter liquidity have led to internal restructuring and an emphasis on commercially viable projects.
By reallocating US holdings from consumer internet toward chips and healthcare, PIF is signaling confidence in long-term innovation and more stable returns. Together with its rising global ranking and expanded domestic footprint, the repositioning highlights PIF’s evolution into a more mature, strategically diversified investor.
Source: Arab News
