Finance

Saudi Arabia’s PIF invests $200m in JP Morgan fund

January 9, 2025, 5:24 PM

The fund is open to investors in 12 European countries and is listed on the Deutsche Borse ETF PIF — The fund is open to investors in 12 European countries and is listed on the Deutsche Borse

PIF adds exchange-traded fund
Listed on LSE and Deutsche Borse
Total assets of $241 million

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has invested $200 million in a recently launched exchange-traded fund that tracks dollar-denominated bonds and sukuk issued by the kingdom’s government and quasi-state entities.

The JP Morgan Saudi Arabia Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF, created in mid-December, is the first internationally listed fixed-income Saudi Arabian ETF.

As such, it “further deepens the Saudi market, while attracting investors and strengthening cross-geography partnerships, increasing international investment in Saudi Arabia”, Yazeed Al-Humied, PIF deputy governor, said in a statement.

The fund is open to investors in 12 European countries including Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom and is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse.

As of January 8 the ETF had total assets of $241 million and offered a yield of 5.03 percent. It has invested in three Saudi Arabian government sukuk and seven government bonds. These have maturities ranging from 2027 to 2054.

Sukuk are sharia-compliant bonds that were developed as an alternative to conventional bonds, which are not considered permissible by many Muslims as they pay interest and may finance businesses involved in activities not allowed under Islamic law.

This week, PIF raised $7 billion to finance future investments, while last week Saudi Arabia said it would need estimated funding of SAR139 billion ($37 billion) in 2025 to cover its budget deficit.