• Middle East SWFs tracked by Preqin allocate 43% of exposure to private capital versus 35% for rest-of-world peers, per BlackRock's Aladdin report.
• Saudi Arabia has accounted for more than 60% of Middle East-based private funds closed since 2015.
• Middle East LPs positive on or considering private-equity mandates rose to a reported 83% in 2026 from 70% in 2019, versus 60% to 61% for global LPs.
• GCC governments are projected to invest approximately $2.1 trillion by 2030, per the report.
• Regional VC deal value averaged $2.4 billion annually from 2021-2025; buyout add-ons rose from 20% to 46% of deal activity between 2020 and 2025.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are directing a larger share of their portfolios into private markets than their global peers, and Saudi Arabia is emerging as the region's private-fund formation hub, according to a BlackRock Aladdin report published September 22, 2026. Middle East SWFs tracked by data provider Preqin allocate 43% of exposure to private capital, versus 35% for rest-of-world funds — a gap BlackRock frames as evidence the region is shifting from a source of global private capital toward becoming a destination for it.

The Chart: Private-Capital Allocation, Middle East vs. Global

The report's central data point plots private-capital allocation share for Middle East sovereign wealth funds against the rest-of-world cohort tracked by Preqin: 43% versus 35%, an eight-percentage-point gap. BlackRock (Aladdin, Sept. 22, 2026) frames the axis as allocation share rather than absolute dollars, and the one clear takeaway is that Gulf SWFs now run private-markets books structurally overweight relative to global institutional peers — a stance the report says is being reinforced by rising domestic deal flow rather than one-off allocations.

Saudi Arabia's Fund-Formation Lead

Saudi Arabia has accounted for more than 60% of Middle East-based private funds closed since 2015, per the report, cementing the kingdom as the region's dominant venue for local general-partner formation. BlackRock's public summary does not break out the underlying fund count or name specific general partners behind that share. The concentration matters for allocators tracking GCC private-markets access: a majority of newly formed regional vehicles are domiciled and raised in Saudi Arabia, ahead of the UAE and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

LP Sentiment Has Shifted Faster in the Gulf

The share of Middle East limited partners positive on or considering private-equity mandates rose to a reported 83% in 2026 from 70% in 2019, versus a far smaller move for global LPs — from 60% to 61% over the same span, according to the report. Regional venture-capital deal value averaged $2.4 billion annually between 2021 and 2025, while add-ons rose from 20% of buyout deal activity in 2020 to 46% in 2025, a trend BlackRock links to GPs consolidating existing platform companies in a thinner new-entry market.

Where the Capital Is Going

Gulf family offices — nearly half of the region's active private-capital investors, per the report — allocate 27% of portfolios to private equity, 19% to real estate, 16% to private credit and 14% to infrastructure, with hedge funds (13%) and natural resources (11%) rounding out the mix. BlackRock separately flags technology, AI infrastructure and data centers as expanding opportunity sets, and cites a GCC aggregate investment projection of roughly $2.1 trillion by 2030 — a forward-looking figure, not a committed or disbursed sum.

Why It Matters

If Preqin's 43%-versus-35% gap holds, Gulf allocators are structurally deeper private-markets buyers than global peers — capital BlackRock's Ayman Daif describes as "increasingly being deployed at home." Watch two things next: whether Saudi Arabia's 60%-plus share of fund formation narrows as the UAE and other GCC members build parallel ecosystems, and whether the reported jump in LP sentiment to 83% converts into closed commitments rather than remaining survey-stage optimism.