Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) aims to increase its assets under management (AUM) to over $400 billion by 2020, according to the Saudi Press Agency, citing senior officials.

They were speaking at the launch of PIF Programme for 2018-2020 being implemented as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 Realisation Programmes, stated the SPA report.

The PIF programme, which is underpinned by 30 separate initiatives, will see the fund’s AUMs surge to a new high in three years, creating 20,000 direct domestic jobs, more than half of which are high-skilled roles, said the officials.

It will also create 256,000 construction jobs, which will increase PIF’s contribution to real gross domestic product (GDP) from 4.4 per cent to 6.3 per cent, and increase the share of local content to over $13 billion, they stated.

The PIF Programme is one of 12 Vision Realisation Programmes (VRP) and acts as a roadmap for the next three years to strengthen the wealth fund's position as the engine behind economic diversification in the kingdom, and underpins PIF’s role in supporting a crucial component of the Vision 2030 agenda to transform Saudi Arabia into a global investment powerhouse, reported SPA.

It also encompasses efforts to maximise value in PIF’s existing assets, which make up the majority of the fund’s holdings, and a new target to increase PIF’s total shareholder returns, TSR, up from 3 per cent to between 4 to 5 per cent, the report added.