The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States, has boosted its investment in electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors. This move suggests that CalPERS anticipates a positive outlook for Lucid’s stock as the company accelerates the rollout of new electric vehicles, supported by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund funding.
On September 3, reports from American investment media outlets such as Barron’s revealed that CalPERS acquired an additional 262,123 shares of Lucid in the second quarter. With Lucid’s stock closing at $2.61 on June 30, this purchase totals approximately $680,000. CalPERS now holds 1,317,396 shares of Lucid, marking a 24% increase from the previous quarter.
Lucid, headquartered in California, was founded in 2007 by Bernard Tse, a former Tesla vice president, and Sam Weng, who previously worked at Oracle. The company’s current CEO, Peter Rawlinson, is a former chief engineer at Tesla and was instrumental in the design of the Model S.
Last month, Lucid secured a $1.5 billion funding agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ayar Saudi Company. The PIF is Lucid’s largest shareholder, owning 60% of the company’s shares, and has been a consistent funding source over the past year or two.
In a notable move earlier this year, CalPERS sold 13,959,773 shares of Nvidia. Given Nvidia’s average stock price of around $100 during the second quarter, this sale amounted to approximately $1.4 billion. Nvidia’s soaring stock price influenced the decision to sell amid the AI boom.
CalPERS, which manages approximately $520 billion in assets, continues to adjust its investment strategies to optimize returns and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
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