This time one year ago Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was a name barely recognized outside the kingdom. Since then, the sovereign wealth fund has been thrust into the limelight due to the central role it is set to play in the planned execution of Aramco’s IPO in late-2018. But it has already started to carve out its own investment strategy on the international stage, and in the process, garnered considerable cachet.
The revenue generated from the 5% share listing of Aramco will be transferred to the PIF, with the stated goal of raising its capital from its current level of SR686bn ($183bn) to SR7trillion ($2 trillion) by 2030 (MEES, 8 April 2016). If – and it is a big if – this is achieved, it will make PIF the world’s largest SWF, more than twice the size of Norway’s Government Pension Fund, currently the world’s largest at $922bn according to the SWF Institute (SWFI). (CONTINUED - 2384 WORDS)
