JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund gathered over 1,000 top executives in Riyadh for its second Directors’ Gathering, unveiling new governance priorities amid rapid portfolio expansion. 

The event, which brought together representatives from approximately 220 portfolio firms — including over 100 established by PIF itself — focused on enhancing board performance, aligning strategic priorities, and promoting cross-sector synergies to deepen collaboration across the fund’s growing portfolio. 

Discussions were centered around redefining board impact in the context of national transformation, strengthening oversight in a changing risk landscape, and navigating new governance challenges posed by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, according to a press release. 

The event comes as PIF accelerates its dual mandate of advancing Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification and generating long-term global returns. Since its 2015 transformation, the fund has grown into a globally influential investor, managing $941.3 billion in assets in 2024 and playing a key role in Vision 2030. 

Speaking to the delegates, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, highlighted PIF’s vision and that the roles of boards include three main priorities: brainstorming and setting strategy, ensuring the right governance frameworks are in place for management, and monitoring performance, with a view to the ever-changing macro-economic context and evolving innovations. 

“He stressed that this could transform challenges into opportunities to lead, grow and innovate,” the release added. 

Al-Rumayyan also urged directors to view PIF and its 220 companies as a unified ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of leveraging the group’s collective capabilities. He added that collaboration should be considered the primary measure of success. 

The Directors’ Gathering, launched in 2023, is a key pillar of PIF’s corporate excellence agenda and serves as a platform for knowledge exchange and governance development not only within its portfolio but across Saudi Arabia’s business ecosystem. 

PIF was ranked as the world’s second most active sovereign investor by deal value in February, committing $3 billion in global transactions, according to Global SWF, a data platform tracking sovereign wealth fund activity. 

In a fireside chat titled “Aligning the Economic Vision,” Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim, who also sits on the the sovereign wealth fund’s board, said the existence of PIF portfolio companies and the related ecosystem is in itself a form of resilience, according to a post on the fund’s official X account. 

Al-Ibrahim added: “We are transforming our economy and restructuring the Saudi economy to create more engines of growth, more drivers of progress, and a diversified set of growth sources.”   

In another fireside chat titled “Evolving Investment Strategy,” Head of the Global Capital Finance Division and Head of the Investment Strategy and Economic Insights Division at PIF, Fahad Al-Saif, said the fund is responsible for investing in assets that generate maximum economic impact for Saudi Arabia while also maximizing financial returns for the fund. 

“This is done within a robust framework, across duration for us to become a generational fund in the future,” he said in another X post by PIF. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is expanding its global presence with a new subsidiary company office in Paris.  

The Paris office marks the Public Investment Fund’s latest effort to deepen ties in Europe, following previous openings in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Beijing, underscoring the fund’s commitment to strengthening its presence in key international markets. 

This comes as PIF invested $84.7 billion across Europe between 2017 and 2024, contributing $52 billion to the continent’s gross domestic product and generating over 254,000 direct and indirect jobs. In France alone, its investments totaled $8.6 billion, adding $4.8 billion to GDP and creating 29,000 jobs. 

“PIF is an active, long-term investor in the world’s most innovative and transformational industries, businesses, and markets. This new office will enable PIF to further strengthen its partnerships in the region,” the fund said in a release. 

French President Emmanuel Macron and PIF Gov. Yasir Al-Rumayyan will headline the opening ceremony of the fund’s Paris office, coinciding with the “Choose France” summit that began on May 19 in the capital. 

The event will also draw senior officials and leading business figures, underscoring the strategic significance of PIF’s investment in France.

The 8th edition of the “Choose France” summit, held at the Palace of Versailles, is expected to secure €20 billion ($22.47 billion) in commitments across key sectors such as defense, energy, and industry, surpassing last year’s €15 billion, according to Reuters.

Ahead of the 2025 summit, €17 billion in projects were already pledged, including a €6.4 billion data center investment by US logistics firm Prologis and €1 billion from fintech Revolut for expansion.  

Other major announcements are expected from Amazon, UAE’s MGX, and rare earth firm Less Common Metals, alongside a €100 million drone factory by Portugal’s Tekever, Reuters reported. 

According to UN Trade and Development, France retained its top spot in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year, attracting 1,025 projects despite a 14 percent decline. It remained ahead of the UK with 853 projects and Germany with 608. France captured 19 percent of all foreign investment into Europe, slightly above its 18.7 percent share in 2019 — highlighting its continued appeal to investors despite global economic uncertainty.

“The addition of Paris also aligns with PIF’s strategy to drive global economies and lead the economic transformation of Saudi Arabia,” the fund added in the release. 

Since 2017, PIF has backed around 220 portfolio companies and supported the creation of 103 new firms, contributing to global economic activity and employment. The fund has generated over 1.1 million jobs worldwide and maintains a focus on forming strategic partnerships with innovative players across sectors.  

In February, the PIF ranked as the world’s second most active sovereign investor by deal value, committing $3 billion in global transactions.  

Global SWF, a data platform tracking activity in the sector, reported that the Kingdom’s PIF emerged as the most active sovereign wealth fund, completing three overseas deals through its portfolio companies.