Saudi wealth fund PIF's assets under management up 19% in 2024 to $913bn

Assets of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund climbed to $913 billion in 2024, marking a 19 per cent annual rise for the sovereign wealth fund that is key to the kingdom's economic transformation agenda.

The fund's annual returns since 2017, however, have fallen to 7.2 per cent, down from 8.7 per cent in 2023, the PIF said in its annual report published on Wednesday.

Capital deployment across its priority sectors reached $56.8 billion last year, bringing cumulative investment since the beginning of 2021 to more than $171 billion, the fund said.

Total revenue increased by 25 per cent and its cash balance "remains strong and broadly unchanged year on year as PIF maintains its robust liquidity", the report said.

The PIF now represents 10 per cent of the nation’s non-oil economy, with its cumulative real non-oil GDP contribution between 2021 and 2024 growing to $243 billion.

The total number of its portfolio companies at the end of last year had reached 225, of which the PIF created and established 103.

“PIF further established its position as one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds," said Yasir A AlSalman, the PIF’s chief financial officer. "PIF continues to innovate to deliver on its mandate and drive economic transformation.”

The PIF is leading Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to diversify the kingdom's economy from oil. The PIF, along with related organisations, is driving investment into areas including finance, health care, sport, renewables, technology, the automotive industry, property, aerospace, defence, entertainment, leisure, retail and mining.

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The fund's domestic holdings include Saudi mining and mineral giant Maaden, petrochemicals major Sabic and the kingdom's biggest lender, Saudi National Bank. It has also launched Riyadh Air – Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier – which is set to begin flying this year, the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company and Lifera, a pharmaceutical investment company.

The fund also continues to make key international investments. In December, the PIF and Ardian completed a €4 billion ($4.2 billion) deal to buy a combined 37.62 per cent stake in London's Heathrow Airport from Spanish construction firm Ferrovial and other shareholders of FGP Topco, the parent company of Heathrow Airport Holdings.

It has four main sources of funding: capital injections from the government, government asset transfers, retained earnings from investments, and loans and debt instruments.

The fund, which received 8 per cent more of Aramco shares from the government last year, has also continued to diversify its funding sources, raising $9.83 billion in public debt and an additional $7 billion in private debt, it said in the report.

“The 2024 results highlight PIF’s transition from digital transformation to digital leadership, with artificial intelligence and automation together becoming a vital part of operations," said Maram Al Johani, PIF’s acting chief of staff and secretary general to the board.

"In 2024, PIF completed 58 digital projects, launched 15 new applications and automated more than 477 processes, enabling insights, strategy and the creation of economic value.”

The PIF also raised its target for assets under management by 2030 to $2.67 trillion, up nearly 43 per cent from its original target of $1.87 trillion, the annual report released by the Saudi government's Vision 2030 in April said.

The fund has helped create 1.1 million jobs in the kingdom as of 2024, up from 77,700 in 2021, the report found.