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RIYADH: ����ֱ��’s Public Investment Fund boosted its US equity holdings to about $23.8 billion by the second quarter of 2025, up from roughly $20.6 billion a year earlier. 

The fund’s latest Form-13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission shows PIF held positions across 57 equities and options, compared to 38 a year earlier, but with a markedly different composition. 

The sovereign wealth fund exited stakes in Meta Platforms, PayPal, Alibaba, Shopify, and other e-commerce and social-media names, while boosting holdings in electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group by nearly 400 million shares and more than doubling its stake in chip designer Arm Holdings. 

It also bought into Apple, ASML, Analog Devices, and several US healthcare giants, such as UnitedHealth, Eli Lilly, and Merck, reflecting a pivot toward semiconductors and healthcare. 

As the sovereign investment arm of ����ֱ��, PIF plays a central role in advancing Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s long-term strategy to diversify its economy beyond oil. 

Tasked with building national champions, creating jobs, and attracting foreign investment, PIF channels capital into both global markets and domestic sectors such as tourism, technology, and infrastructure. Its dual mandate, to deliver returns and to drive economic transformation, makes it not only one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds but also a policy instrument shaping ����ֱ��’s post-oil future. 

The rebalancing comes as PIF intensifies its domestic and global investment drive. According to Global SWF, the fund’s assets under management climbed to $1.15 trillion in 2025, an increase that lifted PIF to fourth place among sovereign wealth funds worldwide. 

The consultancy noted that PIF is moving from rapid deployment to a more methodical approach focused on cost control and measurable returns. 

Nearly 37 percent of PIF’s portfolio is invested in alternatives such as real estate, infrastructure, private equity and hedge funds, according to a July report by Private Equity Insights. More than two-thirds of its assets are deployed inside ����ֱ��, where the fund has invested over $171 billion since 2021, representing about 10 percent of the Kingdom’s non-oil gross domestic product. 

Despite the surge in assets, PIF’s net profit fell 60 percent in 2024 to SR26 billion amid higher interest rates, impairments and delays on major projects. In response, the fund has tightened performance management, tapped commercial paper and sukuk for liquidity, and shifted focus toward revenue-generating assets. 

Its Governance, Sustainability and Resilience score reached a perfect 100 percent, making it the highest-ranked fund in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, according to Global SWF. 

The diversification strategy has also produced a steady stream of headline deals. In May 2025, PIF signed agreements with US asset managers Franklin Templeton, Neuberger Berman and Northern Trust to channel up to $12 billion into Saudi markets and establish a multi-asset platform in Riyadh. That same week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Humain, an AI company under PIF tasked with building data centre and cloud-infrastructure capabilities in the Kingdom. 

Earlier this year, PIF-backed digital security firm Elm agreed to buy business-services firm Thiqah for SR3.4 billion, further cementing the fund’s role in creating national champions.

Internationally, PIF is exploring a $15 billion investment in Brazil’s renewable energy and green hydrogen industries and has committed roughly $200 million to a Manhattan real estate project with Related Companies. 

Yet challenges remain. Reuters reported that PIF took an $8 billion write-down on some giga-projects as it scales back overly ambitious developments. Rising funding costs and tight liquidity have prompted management restructuring and a greater emphasis on projects with a clear path to profitability. 

The fund must balance its domestic mandate, supporting mega-projects and job creation, with growing international ambitions across technology, mobility, gaming and sports. 

As PIF’s US holdings shift from consumer internet to semiconductors and healthcare, the sovereign wealth fund is signalling confidence in long-term innovation while recognizing the need for steady returns amid a challenging global environment. 

Combined with its rising global rank and deeper domestic investments, the repositioning illustrates how PIF is evolving into a more mature and strategically diversified investor.

RIYADH: ����ֱ��’s non-oil exports jumped 17.8 percent in the second quarter of 2025, offsetting weaker oil sales and highlighting the Kingdom’s accelerating diversification drive, official data showed. 

The increase included a 46.2 percent rise in re-exports, while national non-oil exports excluding re-exports climbed 5.6 percent, according to the General Authority for Statistics.  

The data highlight the rising importance of non-oil activity in ����ֱ��’s economy, with Vision 2030 driving industrial expansion, logistics, and giga-projects that boost demand for technology and capital goods. 

In its latest report, GASTAT stated: “The ratio of non-oil exports (including re-exports) to imports increased to 37.3% in Q2 2025 from 35.8% in Q2 2024. This is attributed to the increase in non-oil exports compared to imports of 17.8% and 13.1% respectively, during the same period.” 

A mixed picture 

While non-oil exports strengthened, ����ֱ��’s overall trade performance showed mixed signals across the quarter and month. 

In the second quarter of 2025, a 15.8 percent drop in oil exports dragged total merchandise exports down by 7.3 percent year on year. Combined with a 13.1 percent rise in imports, this pushed the merchandise trade balance surplus down by 56.2 percent compared to the same period in 2024. Oil’s share of the Kingdom’s total exports slipped from 74.7 percent to 67.9 percent in the quarter, reflecting a gradual rebalancing of the export basket. 

By contrast, the monthly data for June showed a more positive trend. Non-oil exports surged by 22.1 percent, outpacing a modest 1.7 percent increase in imports. This drove the trade balance surplus higher by 10.6 percent year on year.  

Even with oil exports falling 2.5 percent, the non-oil momentum was enough to keep overall merchandise exports in positive territory, up 3.7 percent. Oil’s share of exports narrowed further, dropping from 74.7 percent in June 2024 to 70.2 percent in June 2025.  

Key drivers 

GASTAT’s analysis of export commodities revealed the engines of this non-oil growth. Chemical products remained the most significant category, constituting 23 percent of total non-oil exports and growing by 5.8 percent. 

The machinery, electrical equipment, and parts sector recorded the sharpest growth, rising 120.8 percent year on year and accounting for 21.7 percent of total non-oil exports. This growth points to rapid development in advanced manufacturing and technology-related industries within the Kingdom.  

The latest official data showed ����ֱ��’s Industrial Production Index increasing by 7.9 percent year on year in June, driven by a sharp rebound in manufacturing. 

Conversely, the same machinery and electrical equipment category was also the most imported goods, making up 28.9 percent of total imports and rising by 28.7 percent. 

This suggests the growth is being driven by both domestic production and increased demand for technology and capital goods, essential for ongoing giga-projects and industrial expansion.  

Transportation equipment and parts were the second most imported goods, rising by 12.1 percent. 

Trading partners  

China cemented its position as ����ֱ��’s primary trading partner. It was the top destination for the Kingdom’s exports, absorbing 14.2 percent of the total, and the leading source of imports, accounting for 27.4 percent of all goods entering ����ֱ��.  

The UAE was the second-largest export market at 10 percent, followed by India at 8.8 percent. The US was the second-largest source of imports, followed by the UAE.   

Trade with the top ten partners for both exports and imports accounted for approximately two-thirds of the Kingdom’s total trade flows.   

Logistically, the King Abdulaziz Sea Port in Dammam was the nation’s busiest gateway, handling 26.2 percent of all imports. It was followed by Jeddah Islamic Sea Port and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.    

Together, the top five ports of entry facilitated 78.4 percent of all merchandise imports, demonstrating the critical role of the Kingdom’s infrastructure in facilitating global trade.   

Earlier in May, a separate report released by GASTAT revealed that the Kingdom’s gross domestic product grew 2.7 percent year on year in the first quarter, driven by strong non-oil activity.      

Commenting on the GDP figures, ����ֱ��’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal Al-Ibrahim, who also chairs GASTAT’s board, said at the time that the contribution of non-oil activities to the Kingdom’s economic output reached 53.2 percent — an increase of 5.7 percent from previous estimates.   

June upswing 

GASTAT’s product-level data for June showed stronger growth in some key sectors compared to the quarterly average. Machinery, electrical equipment, and parts, which accounted for 23.3 percent of non-oil exports, rose 168 percent year on year.   

Chemical products, which remained the largest category at 24.5 percent of non-oil exports, grew by 8.5 percent.   

On the import side in June, the top category remained machinery, electrical equipment, and parts, making 30.6 percent of imports, up 29.0 percent, while transportation equipment, and parts saw a decrease of 13.2 percent. 

China remained the top destination in June, receiving 15.5 percent of ����ֱ��’s total exports, while the UAE and India followed at 9.1 percent each. 

The top five customs ports for imports in June were led by King Abdulaziz Sea Port in Dammam and Jeddah Islamic Sea Port, which together handled nearly half of all goods entering the country. 

GASTAT noted that the data is compiled from records provided by the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority and the Ministry of Energy, classified according to the international Harmonized System.