Saudi wealth fund PIF starts private security firm

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund started a firm to provide private security services in the kingdom as part of efforts to diversify its business.

The National Security Services Company, also known as SAFE, “will focus on providing security services that include security consulting, security solutions, training and development, and a range of specialised services,” the Public Investment Fund said on its website. It didn’t provide financial details.

The wealth fund has rapidly expanded since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman decided to use it as a vehicle for his ambitions to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil, while also transforming the way it invests its wealth.

Previously a small, domestically focused investor, it now aims to have assets of over $2 trillion across a mixture of local and global holdings by 2030. The fund’s employees have expanded from under 100 people five years ago to over 1,000.