Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has expanded its partnerships with Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) and BlackRock as it pushes ahead with the country’s Saudi Vision 2030 initiative.
The market cap of Saudi stocks, tracked by MSCI, is currently US$2.3 trillion.
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A new quant investment strategy from NTAM will identify and capture sources of excess return in the Saudi and MENA equity markets, the firm says, using data science, alternative data sources and quant models. It is currently exclusively a PIF vehicle.
NTAM and PIF signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May as part of the region’s Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, part of which aims to increase the country’s capital markets and asset management sector.
NTAM’s regional headquarters for the Middle East has been based in Saudi Arabia since 2023. It manages US$48 billion in quantitative strategies globally, covering equities and fixed income. Performance is not broken down on an asset class or regional level.
PIF has also expanded its partnership with BlackRock, which manages US$128 billion on behalf of clients in Saudi Arabia. The investment manager launched a Saudi systematic equity strategy in January, and a Saudi index equity strategy in May. It will now offer mutual funds based on Saudi systematic equities and MENA fixed income through BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management (BRIM), established in April 2024.
