Head of the $300 billion Saudi wealth fund on buying during the pandemic: 'We saw opportunity'

Published Wed, Sep 30 202012:20 PM EDT

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) used the coronavirus-induced sell-off as a buying opportunity and recently took profits on some of those positions, PIF governor and Aramco chairman H.E Yasir Al-Rumayyan told David Faber Wednesday at the CNBC and Institutional Investor's Delivering Alpha conference. "We saw opportunity with this big pandemic and we thought that this is very similar to most of the other crises that we've seen in the financial markets throughout the decades," he said. "So we were preparing and we had a lot of cash waiting on the sidelines" The fund, which reportedly has more than $300 billion in assets under management, focused on three types of investments across both domestic and international markets: strategic positions, opportunistic positions, and rescue finance positions. The S & P 500 has since rebounded 53% from its March low, which led PIF to take profits in some of its bets. "We of course saw opportunities to sell some of these positions and we did in the opportunistic approach, but we kept some of the strategic positions," Al-Rumayyan said, while adding that the fund is in talks with some of the companies in its rescue finance category. At current levels Al-Rumayyan said some sectors look over-valued, while others still have room to run. PIF is the kingdom's primary vehicle for expanding its domestic and international investments and is a key part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, which is aimed at diversifying the country's economy away from oil reliance. Al-Rumayyan emphasized the diversity of PIF's investments, which include a stake in Uber and electric vehicle company Lucid Motors, as well as a $45 billion investment in Softbank's $100 billion Vision Fund. He noted that while the fund is betting on electric vehicles growing in popularity, it shouldn't lead to a total drop-off in demand for oil given. "We think the demand in oil will continue growing, and at the same time the supply will really go lower," he said. "We are the most resilient company when it comes to providing the world with oil."

H.E Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Public Investment Fund Governor; Aramco Chairman, speaks during the 2020 Delivering Alpha conference on Sept. 20th, 2020.

CNBC

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) used the coronavirus-induced sell-off as a buying opportunity and recently took profits on some of those positions, PIF governor and Aramco chairman H.E Yasir Al-Rumayyan told David Faber Wednesday at the CNBC and Institutional Investor's Delivering Alpha conference.