Saudi PIF said to hire BofA banker for senior role

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, plans to appoint Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Alireza Zaimi to a senior management post, Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.  

Zaimi, a French national who has served as managing director at BofA, will lead the PIF’s corporate finance and treasury functions division and join its executive committee, it was reported.

The banker will be among the first foreigners to join the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, which until now has had an all-Saudi board and executive committee, and is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund has taken on a more active role over the past couple of years as part of the Kingdom’s economic diversification plans.

The PIF has announced several mega investments in recent months, including $45 billion for a technology fund led by Japan’s SoftBank and $20 billion into a planned infrastructure fund with New York-based Blackstone. 

The fund has also set up companies in Saudi Arabia to tap into a wide range of different industries, including defense, religious tourism, waste management, and mortgage refinancing.