#Saudi wealth fund snaps up $7.7bn of US and European blue-chip stocks | Financial Times

Saudi wealth fund snaps up $7.7bn of US and European blue-chip stocks | Financial Times:

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund snapped up stakes worth at least $7.7bn in US and European blue-chip companies during the first three months of the year as it aggressively hunts assets at knockdown prices during the coronavirus pandemic.

The largest investments by the Public Investment Fund, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman include a holding in UK energy major BP worth $827.8m, and a stake in Boeing, valued at $713.6m at the end of March, according to a US regulatory filing.

The fund has also acquired shares in Facebook, Bank of America, Citigroup, Walt Disney, Marriott, Pfizer and Starbucks, the filing showed. Some of the new holdings, including in cruise operator Carnival and concert promoter Live Nation, had been disclosed publicly in recent weeks due to the size of the stakes.

At the end of last year, the sovereign wealth fund’s only disclosable holdings were its long-running investment in ride-hailing group Uber and the remnants of a bet on Elon Musk’s Tesla, which it exited in the first quarter.