Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has bought minority stakes in a number of major US companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., BlackRock Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., American Tower Corporation, and Zoom, according to a regulatory filing.
Meanwhile, the Saudi sovereign fund’s ownership in the US market decreased from $43.6 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2022 to $40.8 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2022.
Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the PIF is plowing deeper into public markets as it pursues the goal of more than doubling its assets by 2025. The wealth fund is boosting its investments in equities as Saudi Arabia’s income from oil almost doubled in the second quarter.
The PIF has invested more than $7 billion to build new positions in US stocks including Amazon, Alphabet, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase as markets were battered by recession fears.
The sovereign fund also added to positions it held in Facebook Inc. owner Meta Platforms Inc. with buying stake worth $464 million; PayPal Holdings Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. in the second quarter, according to a 13F filing. The acquisitions show that the PIF is doubling down on its bet on technology investments despite a rout in valuations.
The fund disclosed buying of stakes worth $433.6 million in JPMorgan Chase, and $507 million in Zoom, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission data.
The sovereign fund builds an international investment portfolio, while also investing locally in projects that will help reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, and has assets under management estimated at $620 billion. By the end of the second quarter of 2022, the fund’s holdings of listed US stocks fell 7.1 percent to $40.7 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
The data revealed that the fund included 16 new companies in its list of investments, including 4.7 million shares in Zoom, worth $507.2 million, representing 1.9 percent of the company’s shares, and 1.04 million shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation worth $496.8 million.
The PIF’s new holdings also included 6.37 million shares in Netextra Energy, worth $493.3 million, and 6.31 million shares in Starbucks Corp., worth $482.3 million.
The PIF also pushed deeper into tech stocks, joining Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. to become a go-to investor in the sector. The sovereign fund invested about $522 million in Datadog Inc. and roughly $2 billion in Electronic Arts Inc. during the second quarter, according to the filing.
