Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund cut the number of U.S. stocks it reported holding at the end of the first quarter, nearly halving its direct holdings in those stocks.
The Riyadh-based Public Investment Fund held U.S.-traded shares worth about $18 billion as of March 31, down from $35 billion at the end of last year, according to an analysis of a 13F disclosure filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The report shows that the fund no longer owns many technology stocks, including stakes worth $600 million or more in Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Salesforce. The sovereign fund has replaced its direct holdings in these and other tech stocks with call options on a smaller number of stocks, a move that allows it to maintain some exposure to the companies but with less capital at risk.
The report also indicated that the fund had given up all of its holdings in American financial companies and the travel sector, including a $602 million stake in BlackRock, a $942 million investment in Carnival Corp, and a $757 million position in Booking Holdings.
The PIF is funded through a combination of borrowing, cash and asset transfers from the government, as well as retained earnings from its investments.
Institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds that manage $100 million or more of U.S.-traded stocks, are required to disclose their holdings at the end of each quarter through Form 13F.
