Saudi sovereign fund PIF says total staff count crossed 1,000 in December

Saudi sovereign fund PIF says total staff count crossed 1,000 in December

DUBAI  - Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, said on Thursday its total employee count surpassed 1,000 as of December, marking an addition of about 300 employees since the start of the year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.The sovereign fund, which had around 40 employees in 2016, told Reuters in an email that 80 new recruits have been drawn from this year's cohort of its Graduate Development Program.The new hires also include Fadi al-Said, the former head of Lazard Asset Management Middle East and North Africa (MENA), who joined as a senior director in PIF's local equity funds department in September, the fund said.Earlier this year, the fund also hired Maziar Alamouti, a former head of trading at advisory and wealth management firm Quilter Investors, to build PIF's trading capabilities.The hiring spree comes as other financial institutions have been under pressure to cut costs in the Gulf region, while the PIF continues to grow into an aggressive global investor.About 84% of PIF's employees are Saudi citizens and 26% of its total employees are women, including Shihana AlAzzaz, the fund's general counsel and secretary general to the board, people familiar with the matter told Reuters."PIF is committed to a