Saudi wealth fund PIF opens London, New York and Hong Kong offices

The three new offices will support the fund's international expansion

PIF is the main vehicle for growing Saudi Arabia's investments domestically and abroad. Reuters

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, opened three new subsidiary offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, as it looks to expand its international footprint.

PIF is an active investor in industries and businesses worldwide, including in the UK, Europe, the US, Asia and South America.

The new offices will “further enable PIF to continue to work with its partners across regions globally, while helping to transform global economies and drive the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia”, it said in a statement on Thursday.

PIF, which has about $480 billion in assets under management, is the main vehicle for growing Saudi Arabia's investments domestically and abroad as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the chairman of the fund, seeks to diversify the economy from oil through his Vision 2030 strategy.

PIF’s international expansion comes as part of its five-year strategy to grow its assets under management to $1.07 trillion by the end of 2025, while continuing to create new sectors, companies and jobs.

The fund will focus on 13 core domestic sectors; renewables, healthcare, telecoms, media and technology, food and agriculture, automotive, transportation and logistics, real estate, aerospace, defence, construction and building components, and services. The kingdom will also continue to develop entertainment, leisure and sports, financial services, metals and mining and its retail sector.

Some of the companies established by the PIF include the futuristic city Neom, the Red Sea Development Company, Qiddiya, the KAFD Development and Management company, SAMI, the Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund, Jeddah New Downtown Company, Saudi Entertainment Venture, Saudi Information Technology Company and National Energy Services.

Earlier this month, Moody's Investors Service assigned its fifth-highest investment grade rating to PIF in its first rating of the government-owned entity.

The agency assigned PIF an A1 long-term issuer rating, an A1 baseline credit assessment (BCA) and a stable outlook on all ratings.

The ratings reflect the fund's “very strong” fundamental credit strengths, taking into account factors such as the large scale of its total assets, a steady dividend income stream and a high-quality investment portfolio, investments across diversified sectors both locally and internationally, a “very strong” financial profile with very low leverage and very high interest coverage, as well as an “excellent” liquidity profile, Moody's said.