BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, is planning a rapid expansion of its investments in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East over the coming years, aiming to capitalize on the region’s booming infrastructure and technology sectors. The firm has already deployed more than $35 billion across equities, fixed income, and infrastructure in the kingdom.
Kashif Riaz, head of BlackRock’s Financial Markets Advisory business in the Middle East, said the firm now has four investment teams based in Riyadh focusing on strategies throughout the region. “We think we’ve just gotten started with the theme of the Middle East as an investment destination,” he said in an interview. Riaz added that BlackRock expects its investments in Saudi Arabia to double or triple, putting the potential deployment at $70 billion to $105 billion.
The firm sees infrastructure as the most compelling opportunity as Saudi Arabia invests hundreds of billions of dollars to develop its non-oil economy. Key projects include the expansion of the Riyadh metro, construction of one of the world’s largest airports, and a surge in data center development through the kingdom’s AI champion, Humain. “The bulk of capital deployment has been in energy infrastructure, but that’ll broaden to transportation, digital infrastructure, and data centers,” Riaz said.
BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners division recently led an $11 billion deal involving Saudi Aramco’s natural gas facilities and partnered with investors including Abu Dhabi’s MGX to acquire Aligned Data Centers in a $40 billion transaction, reflecting the firm’s strategic push into AI-linked infrastructure.
Since establishing operations in Saudi Arabia in 2019, BlackRock has accelerated growth after a $5 billion deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to build a Riyadh-based investment platform. The PIF has also anchored funds by Goldman Sachs and State Street as part of efforts to deepen Saudi Arabia’s asset management industry and attract foreign capital.
The Riyadh team, now around 40 people, is expanding to cover multi-asset strategies, with plans to launch new mutual funds and develop the market for residential mortgage-backed securities. Riaz emphasized that private capital and capital markets will play an increasingly vital role in financing Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification projects in the years ahead.
