Key Takeaways
- • BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he has visited Saudi Arabia more than 65 times over several decades, while Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman said he first visited in 1991, according to Business Insider's account of the Saudi-US Investment Forum panel in Riyadh.
- • Fink said Saudi Arabia has become a capital "destination" rather than just a capital provider to foreign investors, and said "We could see the Kingdom being a top 10 economy in the world."
- • Schwarzman said Blackstone's $20 billion investment from the Public Investment Fund in 2018 has generated annual returns of 17.5%.
- • Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson highlighted her firm's new local private credit offering in the Kingdom, while Citi CEO Jane Fraser called for building a treasury function in Saudi capital markets.
- • Fink said he is less concerned with short-term volatility, "I don't really care about the next 90 days," and is more focused on the flow of private capital into multi-year projects amid tariff-driven uncertainty.
Summary
At a panel of finance leaders at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, the discussion centered less on assets under management or returns than on each speaker's history of visits to the Kingdom, according to Business Insider. BlackRock's Larry Fink said he had come more than 65 times over several decades. Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman said he first visited in 1991, when most roads were unpaved. Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson said her first visit was in 2020 and that she had made 15 trips since. Citi CEO Jane Fraser also spoke on the panel.
The forum is being held alongside President Donald Trump's state visit to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia said at the start of Trump's second term that it would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States, while American investors are seeking to deploy capital in the Middle East. Fink, whose firm is the world's largest asset manager and is increasingly focused on private markets such as infrastructure, said Saudi Arabia has become a capital destination rather than only a source of capital for foreign investors. He credited the country's 2030 plan, managed through its sovereign wealth fund, as a signal that the Kingdom intends to drive its own diversification. He also said Saudi Arabia could become a top-10 economy, noting that the Kingdom produced $1.1 trillion in GDP last year, less than half of Canada's output in 2024.
Fraser said the next step for Saudi capital markets should be building a treasury function, and Johnson pointed to Franklin Templeton's new local private credit offering. Schwarzman said Blackstone's $20 billion partnership with the Public Investment Fund, made in 2018, has generated annual returns of 17.5%.
The panelists acknowledged broader uncertainty stemming from Trump administration tariff policies, though a recent agreement with China was seen as a source of hope for greater trade clarity. Fink said his main concern is not short-term volatility but continued reliance on public funding for long-term projects, arguing that an economy's vitality is measured by private capital flowing into investments that take years to complete.
The forum is being held alongside President Donald Trump's state visit to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia said at the start of Trump's second term that it would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States, while American investors are seeking to deploy capital in the Middle East. Fink, whose firm is the world's largest asset manager and is increasingly focused on private markets such as infrastructure, said Saudi Arabia has become a capital destination rather than only a source of capital for foreign investors. He credited the country's 2030 plan, managed through its sovereign wealth fund, as a signal that the Kingdom intends to drive its own diversification. He also said Saudi Arabia could become a top-10 economy, noting that the Kingdom produced $1.1 trillion in GDP last year, less than half of Canada's output in 2024.
Fraser said the next step for Saudi capital markets should be building a treasury function, and Johnson pointed to Franklin Templeton's new local private credit offering. Schwarzman said Blackstone's $20 billion partnership with the Public Investment Fund, made in 2018, has generated annual returns of 17.5%.
The panelists acknowledged broader uncertainty stemming from Trump administration tariff policies, though a recent agreement with China was seen as a source of hope for greater trade clarity. Fink said his main concern is not short-term volatility but continued reliance on public funding for long-term projects, arguing that an economy's vitality is measured by private capital flowing into investments that take years to complete.
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