What Now for Saudi Arabia's Planned $2 Trillion Fund?

Saudi Arabia is now looking for Plan B to propel its sovereign wealth fund into the ranks of global giants. The initial plan was to raise at least $100 billion through an initial public offering of a small stake in Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, in the second half of 2018. Though the IPO is not going ahead as originally planned, the nation’s Public Investment Fund still hopes to control more than $2 trillion by 2030.

PIF, as it’s known, is central to the government’s effort to diversify the economy away from oil, under a plan known as Vision 2030. The fund was set up in 1971 to support projects of strategic significance to the Saudi economy and for most of its history focused mainly on its home market. It holds about $150 billion of assets in listed Saudi companies, including stakes in Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s second-biggest chemicals manufacturer; Saudi Telecom Co.; and National Commercial Bank, the kingdom’s largest lender by assets. But in recent years, it has made headline-making investments around the globe. It currently has assets of about $230 billion.