(Adds details from the filing PIF background)
By Saeed Azhar and Davide Barbuscia
DUBAI, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth
fund, has sharply cut direct stakes in some major blue-chip
companies and invested nearly $4.7 billion in sector-specific
exchange traded funds, according to a U.S filing on Friday.
The total value of Public Investment Fund's (PIF) holdings
in stocks and exchange-traded funds as of the end of the second
quarter was $10.1 billion, slightly up from around $9.8 billion
in direct stakes in blue-chip companies the fund had disclosed
at the end of Q1.
PIF could not be immediately reached for comment early on
Saturday.
The PIF in recent months had bulked up minority stakes in
companies worldwide, taking advantage of market weakness in the
wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The latest filing shows PIF dissolved stakes in companies
such as BP, Boeing, Facebook, Citigroup
and Bank of America, while it reduced stakes in a
small number of companies including Berkshire Hathaway
and Cisco Systems.
The ETFs targeted by the PIF were in the real estate,
materials and utilities' sectors, the latest filing showed.
PIF had bought $7.7 billion worth of stocks in sectors such
as oil, technology and banks in the first quarter.
The S&P 500 lost about a fifth of its value in the
first quarter, but recovered most of it in the second quarter.
The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite index posted
sharper gains in the second quarter after falling 14% in the
first.
In May, Saudi Arabia's finance minister said a total of $40
billion was transferred from central bank foreign reserves to
fund investments by PIF in March and April. It was not exactly
clear how that money will be used.
PIF's strategy is two-pronged - building an international
portfolio of investments and investing locally in projects that
will help reduce Saudi Arabia's reliance on oil.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Davide Barbuscia; additional
reporting by Nishara Karuvalli in Bengalaru; editing by Grant
McCool)