Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reported a loss on investment activities of about $11 billion last year compared to a profit of $19 billion in 2021 as global markets sank.
(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reported a loss on investment activities of about $11 billion last year compared to a profit of $19 billion in 2021 as global markets sank.
That meant the fund’s loss attributable to its owner was 36.6 billion riyals ($9.8 billion) in 2022, down from a profit of 81.8 billion riyals, according to the wealth fund’s accounts published Tuesday. Total assets of the PIF, as the fund is known, rose to about $778 billion from $676 billion.
PIF said it made a 25% return in 2021 as global markets rallied, roughly in line with that of investors in the S&P 500 Index that year. PIF didn’t disclose a comparable figure in its 2022 accounts, a year when the S&P dropped almost 20%. The index is up about 15% so far this year.
The PIF is in the midst of a global investment spree after it was transformed from a domestically-focused holding company into a sovereign fund in 2016. In recent months it has grabbed global attention for a deal to merge its upstart LIV golf tournament with the PGA, part of a push by the kingdom to boost its soft power and improve its image internationally by investing in global sports.
During the course of 2022 the fund established the Sports Investment Company as a wholly owned subsidiary to invest in sports internationally and within the country. This year, the Saudi government transferred a further 4% of energy giant Aramco — worth almost $80 billion — to PIF.
Read More: Saudi Arabia’s Wealth Fund Is Taking Over The Economy
The fund also manages a $35.6 billion portfolio of US equities that includes stakes in Lucid Group Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc., and Uber Technologies Inc., according to a regulatory filing for the end of the first quarter.
The PIF has been becoming more transparent since it started tapping international debt markets last year. Most sovereign wealth funds in the region, which control trillions of dollars, don’t disclose much information on their investments or returns.
Borrowing by the fund reached $85 billion at the end of last year, according to the report. It raised $5.5 billion from a three-part green bond sale earlier this year.
Read More: Saudi Wealth Fund Raises $5.5 Billion From Green Bond Sale
(Adds details on PIF borrowing in last paragraph. An earlier version of this story corrected the year in the second paragraph.)
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