Saudi Arabia’s Jada Fund of Funds, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is considering increasing its allocation to private credit.
The sovereign wealth fund arm recently signed a deal with Indian venture debt firm Stride Ventures to invest $200 million in the Gulf state over the next two years, according to Bloomberg.
“We really want to increase our allocation because private credit remains significantly undertapped in the Saudi market compared to other parts of the world,” said Jada CEO Bandar Alhomaly.
Alhomarie noted that private credit is now a “preferred asset class” for the firm.
Jada was founded in 2018 with approximately $1 billion in funding from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and has deployed approximately $600 million into approximately 50 funds.
Saudi Arabia’s private capital financing remains small, accounting for just 2% of the country’s total outstanding debt, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. However, from 2020 onwards, it will expand tenfold, reaching $3.7 billion in 2024.
(Written by Cleofe Maceda; Edited by Seban Scaria) seban.scaria@lseg.com
