Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reduced its US-listed equity holdings to approximately $12 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a decline from roughly $12.9 billion at the close of 2025. The sovereign wealth fund’s latest quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that PIF now holds positions in only four American companies, down from five the previous quarter after fully exiting its stake in Allurion Technologies. At the same time, the Kingdom has dramatically increased its exposure to US government debt, with Treasury holdings surging to $160.4 billion in February. The portfolio reshuffle reflects a broader strategic recalibration as PIF implements its newly approved 2026–2030 strategy, which commits 80 percent of deployable capital to domestic investments and reduces international allocation to 20 percent.
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Key Overview
- US equity portfolio value: $12 billion as of March 31, 2026, down from $12.9 billion at end of 2025
- Number of US holdings: Four companies — Lucid Group, Electronic Arts, Uber Technologies, and Claritev Corp.
- Exited position: Allurion Technologies (1.1 million shares sold in Q1)
- Largest holding: Uber Technologies at $5.23 billion
- US Treasury exposure: $160.4 billion in February 2026, a 19 percent monthly increase
- 2025 global investment spending: $36.2 billion, the highest of any sovereign wealth fund worldwide
- New strategy target: 80 percent domestic allocation, 20 percent international under the 2026–2030 plan
A Shrinking US Equity Footprint
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund maintained a $12 billion US equity portfolio in the first quarter of 2026, marking a continued decline from what was once a far more expansive presence in American public markets. The fund’s latest Form 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed holdings in just four US-listed companies: Lucid Group Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Uber Technologies Inc., and Claritev Corp.
The contraction is particularly striking when viewed against the fund’s recent trajectory. PIF’s US equity portfolio peaked at approximately $25.6 billion in early 2025 before a series of exits brought it down sharply. By the third quarter of 2025, the fund held positions across 57 equities and options with a combined value of around $23.8 billion. But an aggressive consolidation during the final months of the year — in which the fund exited stakes in companies including Apple, ASML, Arm Holdings, UnitedHealth, Eli Lilly, and Merck — reduced the portfolio to $12.9 billion across just five companies by December 2025. That figure has since slipped further to $12 billion following PIF’s complete exit from Allurion Technologies and declines in its remaining positions during the January-to-March period.
The pattern reflects what analysts describe as a deliberate shift toward concentration and selectivity, rather than a wholesale abandonment of US markets. Tony Hallside, CEO of STP Partners, noted that the reduction in holdings should not necessarily be interpreted as a retreat. He said that Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a major domestic transformation under Vision 2030, and the fund is naturally becoming more selective in its international capital deployment.
Ahmed Azzam, head of market research at Equiti Group, echoed that assessment. He told Arab News that the fund’s reportable US-listed equity book slipped to about $12 billion at the end of March from roughly $12.95 billion at the end of 2025, while the number of positions fell to four. He described the move as looking less like a wholesale retreat from US equities and more like portfolio discipline, with fewer names, cleaner exposure, and less capital tied up in positions that no longer align with the fund’s strategic direction.
Individual Holdings Under the Microscope
A closer look at PIF’s four remaining US positions reveals a portfolio shaped by a combination of long-standing strategic bets and significant valuation fluctuations.
The fund’s largest US equity holding is its stake in Uber Technologies, valued at $5.23 billion as of March 31, down from $5.95 billion at the close of 2025. The PIF-Uber relationship extends beyond a simple equity investment. In July 2025, Uber invested $300 million in Lucid and committed to purchasing at least 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs for use as robotaxis. That commitment has since expanded, with Uber increasing its fleet order to at least 35,000 vehicles and boosting its total investment in the EV maker to $500 million, effectively linking two of PIF’s major portfolio bets in the electric vehicle and autonomous driving space.
Electronic Arts represents PIF’s second-largest US holding at $5.05 billion, essentially unchanged from the previous quarter. This figure, however, understates PIF’s involvement with the gaming company. In September 2025, EA announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by a consortium comprising PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in an all-cash transaction valuing the gaming company at an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion. According to Global SWF, PIF’s portion of that acquisition totaled roughly $28.8 billion, making it the single largest deal contributing to the fund’s record-breaking investment year.
PIF’s stake in Lucid Group fell to $1.68 billion from $1.87 billion in the prior quarter. The sovereign fund remains Lucid’s dominant shareholder, controlling approximately 58 percent of outstanding shares through its affiliate Ayar Third Investment Company and having invested a cumulative $9.5 billion since 2018. Lucid continues to face significant operational headwinds — the company reported Q1 2026 deliveries of just 3,093 vehicles against analyst expectations of over 5,200, and its market capitalisation has sunk to a fraction of PIF’s total outlay. The fund nonetheless committed a fresh $550 million in April 2026 through convertible preferred stock, signaling continued commitment even as speculation about a potential take-private transaction intensifies. Lucid is also on track to begin full-scale production at its second manufacturing facility in King Abdullah Economic City in Jeddah, aiming to reach annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles by 2029.
The smallest holding, healthcare technology company Claritev Corp., dropped sharply to $20.9 million from $54.8 million, representing a position that now appears marginal within the broader portfolio.
PIF fully exited its position in Allurion Technologies during the first quarter, having held 1.1 million shares as warrant positions at the end of 2025.
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The Treasury Pivot: From Equities to Government Debt
While PIF has been trimming its US equity exposure, the Kingdom has been aggressively building its position in US government bonds, a move that analysts say speaks to a broader rebalancing rather than a loss of confidence in American markets.
Treasury International Capital data released in April showed Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasuries climbed 19 percent in February to $160.4 billion, the highest level in years, driven largely by purchases of short-term securities. The total was up from $134.8 billion in January and 26.9 percent higher than $126.4 billion a year earlier, marking a single-month increase of $25.6 billion.
The build-up in Treasury holdings has been a consistent theme throughout recent months. Saudi Arabia’s US debt portfolio rose to $148.8 billion in November 2025, a record $14.4 billion monthly increase at the time, before dipping to $134.8 billion in January 2026 and then surging again the following month. Saudi Arabia now ranks among the 20 largest foreign holders of US Treasuries, with Japan leading globally at $1.22 trillion and the United Kingdom second at roughly $895 billion.
Hallside of STP Partners highlighted the divergence between falling equity holdings and rising Treasury positions as particularly notable. He said that while equity exposure has been trimmed modestly, the significant increase in Saudi holdings of US Treasuries suggests this is more about portfolio rebalancing and long-term strategic priorities than a loss of confidence in the US market.
The preference for government debt aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader foreign reserve management. The Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, has long maintained substantial allocations to US Treasuries given their unmatched global liquidity and reserve currency status. As of November 2025, the Kingdom’s Treasury allocation included $106.8 billion in long-term securities, accounting for about 72 percent of the total, with $42 billion in short-term instruments making up the remainder.
The 2026–2030 Strategy: A Domestic Pivot
The portfolio movements are best understood within the context of PIF’s newly approved five-year strategy. In April 2026, the fund’s board — chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — approved the 2026–2030 plan, which represents a decisive shift toward domestic investment.
Under the new framework, approximately 80 percent of PIF’s portfolio will be directed toward domestic investments, scaling back international exposure to 20 percent. That is down from the roughly 30 percent international allocation that characterised PIF’s most aggressive overseas expansion phase between 2016 and 2023. The fund has organised its domestic portfolio around six key ecosystems: tourism, travel, and entertainment; urban development and livability; advanced manufacturing and innovation; industrials and logistics; clean energy, water, and renewables; and NEOM as a standalone ecosystem.
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan described the strategy as a natural evolution from rapid growth to sustained value creation. He said the fund would continue investing with agility in both local and international markets while maintaining disciplined focus on value realisation, sustainable returns, and enhanced capital efficiency.
The domestic emphasis is being shaped partly by fiscal realities. Saudi Arabia’s fiscal breakeven oil price exceeds $90 per barrel according to International Monetary Fund estimates, while benchmark crude has traded in the $60–65 range in recent quarters. That sustained revenue gap has filtered through the fiscal system. PIF’s own cash reserves had fallen to around $15 billion by late 2024, their lowest level since 2020, prompting the board to approve a minimum 20 percent spending reduction across its portfolio of more than 100 companies at a December 2024 meeting.
The fund is also shifting from a model of sole equity deployment toward what Saudi officials describe as a “crowd in” approach, using PIF capital to attract third-party investment. A SAR 70 billion ($18.7 billion) private sector support facility has been introduced under the new strategy, with eight IPOs earmarked for 2026 to help channel private capital into priority sectors.
A Record Year for Global Dealmaking
Despite the pullback from US public equities, PIF remains among the world’s most formidable investment vehicles. Research firm Global SWF reported in January that the Saudi fund committed approximately $36.2 billion to investments in 2025, more than any other sovereign wealth fund globally and representing an 81 percent increase from its 2024 spending.
The Electronic Arts acquisition alone accounted for the bulk of that figure. But the fund’s activity extended across sectors including artificial intelligence, clean energy, gaming, and logistics. PIF committed about $8.3 billion in clean energy deals in 2025 under its Vision 2030 framework, and its launch of HUMAIN — a sovereign AI initiative — signaled a push toward digital infrastructure and computing capacity.
More broadly, Gulf sovereign wealth funds collectively invested a record $119 billion in 2025, a 43 percent increase from 2024 and representing 43 percent of all capital invested by state-owned investors worldwide. Total sovereign wealth fund assets globally hit a fresh record of $15 trillion, according to Global SWF, with Gulf-based funds alone commanding $6 trillion and recording a 48 percent increase in investment activity.
PIF itself now holds over $1 trillion in assets under management, ranking fourth among all sovereign funds worldwide behind only Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global and two Chinese entities. The fund was also named the most valuable sovereign wealth fund brand in 2025 by Brand Finance, with a brand valuation of $1.2 billion.
What It Means for Markets
The reduction of PIF’s US equity footprint, while modest in percentage terms, carries outsized symbolic weight. As one of the most closely watched sovereign investors in the world, the fund’s SEC filings are treated as a barometer of Gulf capital flows and, more broadly, of confidence in American public markets.
A recent analysis noted that PIF and Berkshire Hathaway filed their quarterly US equity disclosures on the same day, with both signaling a similar posture — Gulf sovereign money is increasingly being called home. As regional governments ramp up domestic spending across infrastructure, defence, and technology, broad exposure to US mega-cap equities appears to matter less than it once did.
Azzam of Equiti Group said the shift aligns with PIF’s strategic direction for 2026–2030, which places greater emphasis on domestic investment across Saudi ecosystems, industrial capacity, clean energy, tourism, logistics, and technology. In that context, he noted, US-listed equities become less of a flagship allocation and more of an adjustable sleeve — something that can be dialed up or down without disturbing the core mission.
The fund’s continued commitment to its remaining US holdings — particularly the massive bets on Lucid, EA, and Uber — suggests that the relationship with American markets is evolving rather than ending. PIF is simply becoming more strategic about which US assets deserve its capital, while directing the majority of its firepower toward building the domestic economy that Vision 2030 has long promised.
Sources: Arab News / Arab News PK / The National / Asharq Al-Awsat / House of Saud / Enterprise AM / GulfBase / Coinlaw / GS Equity / Middle East Briefing / The Saudi Times / The Saudi Standard / Argaam / AGBI / Electrek / Yahoo Finance / 24/7 Wall St / Lucid Group Investor Relations / SEC EDGAR / The Motley Fool / PIF Official Website / Stocktwits / The Finance 360
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