The confirmation that Saudi Arabia plans to launch a sovereign wealth fund means the conservative kingdom will finally join the ranks of other oil-rich Gulf states actively seeking to invest across global asset classes to boost the returns of state coffers.

Yet it will still stand out by virtue of the small size of initial capital planned for the new investment company - SR20bn ($5.3bn, €3.4bn, £2.6bn). The kingdom has by far the largest economy in the Gulf and has seen its declared official foreign assets soar to more than $330bn managed by the central bank, with some estimates putting the total assets under management far higher.