Even before the Iran war kicked off, Wall Street insiders were already wondering how quickly Saudi Arabia could put its money to work. Now Houthi strikes are adding a fresh layer of risk just as Riyadh needs outside capital. With less than two weeks to go, organizers are mapping out backups in case security worsens, including letting some speakers join virtually, similar to the Covid era.
In the wake of deadly attacks, Riyadh's main airport has been closed for the time being, forcing bankers and executives to rework their travel logistics. Alerts issued by the US and UK are causing some would-be attendees to think twice about going.
Companies plan to make the call closer to opening day, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Several executives, who asked not to be named, said no one wants to be the first to cancel and many prefer to wait for clear guidance. FII says it is preparing to "welcome thousands of delegates to Riyadh" when the event starts Oct. 26.
This meeting is the kingdom's big stage to keep global investors engaged while some mega projects get reworked and private funding becomes more central to the financing stack. The Riyadh edition in 2025 produced agreements topping $50 billion. Al-Rumayyan says the conference has helped enable more than $250 billion in deals since it began, though tallying a precise total is tricky because many unveilings are memorandums of understanding, not final contracts.
The stakes are not small. "This hits at the heart of the economic goals the kingdom is trying to achieve in terms of attracting foreign investors," said H.A. Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute. "The entire vision is being held hostage by the Houthis." Saudi-led forces are fighting the group in Yemen, and the Iran-backed Houthis have previously launched missiles and drones at Saudi cities, including strikes that temporarily knocked out about half of the country's oil output.
Even so, the investment case is not evaporating. Khalid Al-Jufairi, Al-Khaleej Fellow at the Fiker Institute, said the country will still draw money into oil and gas, and he anticipates backing and capital arriving from other affluent Gulf states.
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Since its 2017 debut, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appeared with Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son to unveil Neom, FII has been central to Riyadh's courtship of global finance. The priorities have shifted toward artificial intelligence, gaming and high-tech manufacturing, which all rely on international partners. Organizers have touted headliners such as Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and BlackRock's Larry Fink to signal continuity.
"There is no way that somebody will break our back," Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said this week. "We are like a phoenix. We come out of the ashes all the time and every time."
Riyadh has also kept making big international swings. Opportunities have included a potential deal involving Electronic Arts Inc., which delivered millions in fees to banks including JPMorgan Chase. The FII has weathered crises before. In 2018, the killing of Jamal Khashoggi prompted prominent withdrawals, while Ken Moelis maintained ties and his firm has since become a key adviser to the government.
Even with jitters, some leaders are still coming through. During this stretch, Fink is one of the rare top Wall Street executives who have made a public trip to the kingdom. Meanwhile, the latest security flare-ups are complicating the weekly commute for professionals who live in other Gulf hubs, with many resorting to car travel in recent days to get out.
Global SWF says "Saudi Arabia's PIF has slowed down the volume of investments outside of the kingdom," and "Yet, it has placed some high-conviction bets and has significantly concentrated its portfolio overseas." At the same time, deals have become fewer, pushing many on Wall Street to scout opportunities elsewhere. After a tentative ceasefire in April, Citigroup's Jane Fraser and Brookfield's Bruce Flatt traveled to Abu Dhabi, Flatt later stopped in Kuwait, and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson appeared in Kuwait too.
The risk is regional, not just Saudi. After the wider war erupted in February, Iranian strikes faced Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
For your wallet, the read is straightforward: attendance patterns are a real time barometer of risk and access to deals, and the follow through after the photo ops tells you where capital is actually comfortable going.
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