Mideast Wealth Fund to Sell All Assets in Private Markets Pivot

Wealth funds aren’t generally known for making sudden strategic changes that upend their investment models. A little-known Middle Eastern investor is deviating from that thesis, with plans to sell all $1.2 billion of its legacy assets as part of a pivot toward private markets.

The move stems from an existential choice that The Arab Investment Co. — one of the Middle East’s oldest state-backed investors — faced a little over a year ago. At the time, its bosses had to choose between shutting down the firm after half a century or overhauling strategy.

Ultimately, they turned to a former State ...