Yusef Al-Yusef, Global Head of Distribution at Investcorp, stressed that Saudi Arabia represents the cornerstone of the company’s investment strategy in the Middle East, noting that between 70 and 75 percent of its regional investments are concentrated in the Saudi market.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he attributed this focus to the strong economic momentum driven by the Kingdom’s ongoing transformation under Vision 2030.
Al-Yusef explained that Investcorp currently manages around $60 billion in global assets, distributed across private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and credit management.
He stressed that Saudi Arabia has become one of the company’s key growth destinations, offering a wide range of opportunities across promising sectors.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Al-Yusef noted that Investcorp’s relationship with Saudi Arabia dates back to the company’s founding in 1982. However, direct investment in the Saudi market began in 2009, particularly in the private equity sector.
“Today, our focus is on two main pillars: private equity and infrastructure investments,” he said.
Headquartered in Bahrain, Investcorp is one of the world’s leading alternative asset managers, with diversified operations spanning private equity, real assets (infrastructure and real estate), and credit. The firm operates 14 offices across the United States, Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Asia, including India, China, Japan, and Singapore.
Al-Yusef said Investcorp’s private equity investments target consumer services and technology-related sectors, while its infrastructure investments focus on energy, oil, social infrastructure, and transportation.
“We are active in both areas,” he remarked, “and particularly optimistic about infrastructure, given the vast scale of projects being launched in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030.”
He revealed that Investcorp recently participated in the Al-Fadhili Housing Complex project, developed by Saudi Aramco, and is currently exploring several opportunities in private credit, a sector he described as “among the most promising” in the Kingdom.
Al-Yusef stressed that private credit will play a vital role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation, by providing financing solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), boosting innovation and growth, and expanding the base of the national economy.
He disclosed that Investcorp has recently partnered with a Chinese sovereign wealth fund to invest in pre-IPO companies, with the aim of working alongside local and international partners to develop medium-sized and family-owned businesses and prepare them for listing on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) within two to three years.
