Total assets under management (AUM) by public and private investment funds in Saudi increased by 25.2% y-o-y to SAR 699.1 bn in 4Q 2024, according to the Capital Market Authority’s quarterly statistical bulletin (pdf). The total number of funds operating in the Kingdom reached over 1.5k this quarter, with private funds amounting to some 1.2k of the total.

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Public fund assets rose 42.3% y-o-y to SAR 174.5 bn in 4Q 2024, reflecting a 9% increase q-o-q. Money market instruments were the largest asset category held by public funds, reaching SAR 48.9 bn, up 59.8% y-o-y, followed by equities at SAR 44.8 bn (up 58.7% y-o-y), real estate investment trusts (REITs) at SAR 29.3 bn (up 5.7%), and debt instruments at SAR 23.6 bn (up 2.4%).

Local assets held by public funds rose 42.9% y-o-y to SAR 144.6 bn in Q4 2024, while foreign assets grew by 39.6% to SAR 29.9 bn. The number of Saudi public funds rose to 325, marking an 11.7% increase from 291 in Q4 2023. Meanwhile, the total number of public fund subscribers expanded by 45.5% y-o-y, reaching 1.6 mn.

Saudi Arabia’s asset management industry surpassed SAR 1 tn in total AUM in 2024. Private funds, mainly focused on real estate and equities, hold about half of the industry’s AUM, followed by discretionary portfolio management and public funds. Meanwhile, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking to hit SAR 4 tn in AUM by 2025.

On the private side: Private fund assets rose 20.4% y-o-y to SAR 524.6 bn in 4Q 2024, reflecting a 4.9% q-o-q increase. Real estate funds were the largest segment, with assets totalling SAR 233 bn, followed by equities at SAR 196.1 bn. The number of private funds operating in the Kingdom reached over 1.2k — up 23.1% from 994 in 4Q 2023. Meanwhile, the number of subscribers in private funds surged 64.9% y-o-y to 152.4k.

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