The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) accounted for approximately a quarter of total investments by sovereign wealth funds worldwide last year, nearing a level of $124 billion, according to the latest report. The Saudi PIF invested as much as $31.5 billion in 2023, compared to a total of $123.8 billion invested across countries worldwide, as indicated by data from the preliminary annual report of Global SWF, a specialized data tracking firm in the sector.
Although the company does not specify individual investments of the Saudi fund in the report, its generous spending on football and golf has attracted the attention of the sports public, notes Reuters.
Thanks to a strong rise in stock prices in global markets in the recently concluded year, the assets managed by sovereign wealth funds reached a record $11.2 trillion. The total spending of stabilization funds on energy transition, ranging from green hydrogen to lithium mining, also reached a record of $25.9 billion, the report states.
However, spending was down by a fifth last year compared to 2022, according to data from the report published on Monday. Singapore’s GIC, which had topped the global rankings for the past six years, nearly halved its investments in 2023, despite the $144 billion deposited from the central bank’s account.
In forecasts for 2024, Global SWF estimates that the assets of sovereign investment funds, including stabilization funds, central bank funds, and pension funds, will exceed the previous record from 2021 when they reached a total of $50.8 trillion, thanks to unrealized capital gains over the past year.
