The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is anticipated to have immense investment opportunities post the coronavirus pandemic, media reports said. Public Investment Fund is the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
It is reported that the Public Investment Fund is seeking investment opportunities in various sectors such as aviation, oil and gas, and entertainment. Earlier this month, the fund acquired an 8.2 percent stake in Carnival Corporation which is affected by the coronavirus. With that, the company’s shares rose nearly 30 percent higher. Carnival Corporation is an international cruise line headquartered in Florida.
Public Investment Fund Managing Director Yassir Al Rumayyan, said at an online investment forum, “There will be economies up and running, we will see a lot of potential.” The fund manages assets worth more than $300 billion. Also, it has stakes in Uber and Lucid Motors, media reports said.
Public Investment Fund has acquired stakes worth $1 billion in four European oil companies. Currently, the market is depressed on the back of the pandemic and low oil prices. These major companies include Equinor, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Enir, media reports said.
A source told the media, “The Saudis have been buying every day almost for the past few weeks, specially since the share prices of many of these companies were in correction territory and dividend yields were very high. They’ve been buying on the basis that everything is much cheaper and that they are bullish on the long-term outlook for oil prices.”
That said, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has allocated $45 billion to SoftBank’s Vision Fund which is worth $100 billion.