The Saudi Arabian Wealth Fund, which completed 2021 with a profit of 19 billion dollars, closed the year 2022 with a loss of 11 billion dollars.
The Saudi Arabian Wealth Fund lost approximately $11 billion from its investment activities last year.
During the same period, the fund’s total assets increased from $676 billion to approximately $778 billion.
The fund said it delivered a 25 percent return in 2021 as global markets rally, roughly in line with the returns for investors in the S&P 500 Index that year. The fund did not release a comparable figure in its accounts for 2022, a year in which the S&P fell almost 20 percent. The index has risen about 15 percent so far this year.
The fund pursued a global investment strategy after it was converted from a domestically-focused holding company to a government fund in 2016. The fund has attracted global attention in recent months with its agreement to merge the fledgling LIV golf tournament with the PGA, as part of the kingdom’s effort to increase its soft power and improve its international image by investing in global sports.
The Fund established the Spor Investment Company as a wholly owned subsidiary to make international and domestic sports investments throughout 2022. This year, the Saudi government transferred another 4% stake in energy giant Aramco, worth about $80 billion, to the fund.