Stanhope Capital partners with PIF’s GIB for Saudi expansion. PLUS: I-Squared plans to open a Saudi office this year

Stanhope Capital expands into the Kingdom: London-based wealth management firm Stanhope Capital partnered with PIF-majority owned Gulf International Bank (GIB) to offer its services in Saudi Arabia, covering global asset classes — hedge funds, private equity, and real estate — as well as shariah-compliant products, the Financial Times reports.

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Under the agreement, GIB will be responsible for signing clients in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, while Stanhope will focus on wealth management. Clients will be jointly managed by a hybrid team, with Stanhope operating from its offices in the UK, the US, and Switzerland. The company does not plan to establish a regional headquarters at this stage.

The goals: Stanhope wants to build wealth management expertise within the Kingdom, targeting a client base that includes families with more than USD 100 mn in investable assets and institutional clients such as sovereign-linked entities and charities, Stanhope CEO Daniel Pinto told the salmon-colored paper. The firm chose the Gulf over Asia due to the region’s deeper appreciation for wealth management services — as opposed to Asia’s product-driven model.

ALSO- The partnership is seen as a potential instrument for capturing and directing foreign direct investment into the Kingdom, at a time when the value of announced greenfield FDI projects fell 28% y-o-y in 2024 to USD 22 bn.

The rationale: “Many foreign banks and many wealth managers have tried to do it on their own in the region and usually have failed, and we felt that the odds of succeeding were much higher if we had a local partner with local expertise and local access to our target client base,” Pinto explained.

IN OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS-

Global infrastructure investor I-Squared plans to open an office in Saudi Arabia this year, tapping Ali Mandour (LinkedIn) to be its Managing Director, according to a press release. “The biggest market and potential market for investments in infrastructure in size is without a doubt Saudi,” Chairman and Managing Partner Sadek Wahba told Bloomberg.

The firm plans to invest USD 1 bn in Saudi Arabia over the next three years, focusing on energy transition, digital innovation, infrastructure development, and capital markets, Wahba told Al Arabiya. The investments will be split between I-Squared’s own capital and inflows attracted from international investors, particularly from the US, Europe, and Global South countries like Brazil.

Current plans: The firm is reviewing 3-4 potential agreements in the Kingdom, including both the expansion of current and new projects, he said. The Riyadh office will be staffed initially with four people to manage local projects and regional relationships across the GCC, Egypt, North Africa, and collaborate with I-Squared’s India office, Wahba added.

I-Squared? The Miami-based global infrastructure investor was founded in 2012 and manages USD 45 bn in assets across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It targets energy, utilities, transport, and telecom projects, with a focus on renewable and fossil fuels (excluding coal and nuclear).