Saudi Public Investment Fund Buys Shares in US Companies in Q2

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has bought shares in 17 companies from April to June, including Alphabet, Zoom Video and Microsoft. Each investment amounted to about $400-500 million.

However, despite the purchases, the total volume of US stocks in PIF's portfolio declined by $3 billion last quarter to $40.8 billion, amid a general downturn in equity markets this year. The fund's total assets are valued at around $620 billion.

The PIF began building an equity portfolio at the start of the pandemic in 2020 on a falling stock market. Although the fund sold off some shares a few months later, it gained strong positions in companies in various sectors, including game developers Activision Blizzard Inc., Electronic Arts Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.