May 18, 2020-Even as governments and the private sector around the world face economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related shutdown of economies, some state-owned investment funds have been busy looking for bargains in the stock market.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund purchased $7.7 billion worth of stocks in the United States and Europe during the first three months of 2020. Purchases included a $827.8 million stake in BP, a $714 investment in Boeing, and purchases in Facebook, Bank of America, Citigroup, Walt Disney, Marriott, Pfizer and Starbucks, according to reporting by the Financial Times. And last month, it invested $500 million in the Los Angeles entertainment company Live Nation.
The PIF is the tenth-largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. It is meant to help diversify the Saudi Arabian economy in line with the objectives of the country’s Saudi Vision 2030. It is a $320 billion fund run by Yasir Al-Rumayyan and controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Likewise, the drop in oil prices is pushing other government investment funds to seeks profits elsewhere. For example, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is said to be actively seeking deals in the health and technology industries. Furthermore, Kazakhstan’s Baiterek National Managing Holdings is collaborating with a Singapore-based venture capital fund to invest in start-up companies throughout central Asia.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest sovereign investment fund is pulling some of its investments. Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the country’s trillion dollar Norway Government Pension Fund, divested from its holdings in Canadian energy companies, citing concerns over climate change.
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