Saudi’s PIF appoints Fahad Al Saif as new head of investment strategy

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which manages around $925bn has appointed a new head of its investment strategy and economic insights division, Fahad Al Saif, the organisation said on Tuesday.

The fund, the main vehicle for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 national agenda which is building the country’s non-oil economy, has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into projects across the country. These include NEOM, a massive urban and industrial development project nearly the size of Belgium, to be built along the Red Sea coast.

The PIF has a sprawling portfolio of investments ranging from date farms to multinational conglomerates.

PIF’s change in course?

Al Saif will develop the PIF’s overall investment strategy, while maintaining his existing role as the head of the global capital finance division for the fund, the fund said in a statement.

Reuters previously reported that the fund was weighing an internal re-organisation.

Sources also told Reuters in May that the fund aimed to focus on investments that had a higher chance of success, after scaling back on some of its flagship multi-billion dollar mega projects due to rising costs.

A source previously told Reuters that some PIF business lines may be combined and new ones could be created, as part of the reorganisation.

The fund has hoped to attract more foreign investment into some projects, two sources previously told Reuters.

To help diversify funding, it raised $5bn through a bond sale in January and $3.5bn from a sukuk in October, and plans further debt sales this year.

Aramco transferred an 8 per cent stake to the fund in March, doubling the PIF’s holding in the state-owned company to 16 per cent and giving it access to lucrative dividends.

Read: This futuristic PIF-Backed stadium is set to open in 2032