New giant Saudi pension fund aims to crack world’s top 10 ranks

New giant Saudi pension fund aims to crack world’s top 10 ranks

Saudi Arabia gave a first glimpse of the ambition behind the merger of two of its pension and insurance funds with a plan to rival the world's largest investors. The new entity will boast assets of over $250bn, according to the chief executive officer of Hassana Investment Co, the investment management arm of the kingdom's General Organization of Social Insurance. GOSI, as the fund is known, will combine with the Public Pension Agency (PPA) in a move that will reduce costs and help increase investment returns, Saad Al-Fadly, CEO of Hassana, said in an interview. "The merger will strengthen the position of the fund, enhance performance, and position GOSI as one of the top 10 pension plan investors in the world,“ he said, in the first public comments to put a figure on the size of the new state investor. "Scale is a benefit that helps in relationship management, cost management and in negotiations, so it helps in many aspects which will improve returns,“ he said. Saudi Arabia has been taking steps to merge and restructure various entities as it looks to boost efficiency as part of a plan to diversify the economy away from oil. It's also been building