Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, reported a $15.6 billion comprehensive loss in 2022 after the value of its investments in SoftBank Vision Fund plunged, and other tech ventures were hit by a market downturn.
The PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), significantly increased the proportion of its assets dedicated to Saudi stocks last year, from 24% to 32%.
It also reduced from 20% to 10% the portion put toward International Strategic Assets, a portfolio that includes English football club Newcastle United FC and money in a Blackstone Group LP fund investing in US infrastructure.
The PIF didn’t disclose a figure for shareholder returns for 2022, when the S&P 500 Index dropped almost 20%.
Current estimates place the PIF’s assets at about $777 billion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute.
Saudi Arabia’s PIF also took an $11 billion hit on its investments last year — even as it stepped up a worldwide spending spree — after tumbling global stock and bond prices impacted its holdings.
That compares with a profit on investment activities of $19 billion in 2021 as markets rallied in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The figures offer a rare insight into the finances of one of the world’s biggest state investors, which is in the midst of a global investment spree after transforming from a domestically-focused holding company into a sovereign fund in 2016. The fund has been snapping up stakes in video game makers and electric carmakers, as well as funding new cities in the desert as it seeks to amass $2 trillion in assets by 2030.
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.
Analysts say that Saudi authorities are spending billions of dollars hosting major sporting and entertainment events to deflect from the country’s poor human rights record despite the difficult economic conditions.
