The assets of local and foreign investment funds in the Saudi market totalled SR122.578 billion ($33 billion) at the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, marking a 5% growth from the previous quarter. 

 

Consequently, these funds had achieved an estimated growth of SR5.460 billion, up from SR117.117 billion by the end of Q3 2023, a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said.

 

This growth was bolstered by a 7% increase in local assets, rising by approximately SR6.348 billion to approximately SR101.182 billion, as per the Saudi Central Bank's monthly statistical bulletin for February 2024. These assets constituted about 82.5% of the total assets of the investment funds.

 

Number of subscribers

Moreover, the number of subscribers saw a quarterly increase of around 4%, reaching 1,080,455 million subscribers by the end of Q4 2023. The number of active funds also rose by about 3%, totaling 291 investment funds.

 

The total assets of foreign funds amounted to around SR21.396 billion, accounting for about 17.5% of the total assets of the investment funds.

 

Meanwhile, the total assets of open-ended investment funds, comprising 267 funds in total, amounted to SR93.298 billion, while the total assets of 24 closed-ended investment funds amounted to around SR29.279 billion.

 

Nine categories

The assets of the investment funds were classified into nine diverse investment categories based on the type of investments. The highest in terms of value were local stock assets, amounting to SR27.904 billion and representing around 22.8% of the total assets of the investment funds. Real estate investment assets followed, amounting to SR24.730 billion and constituting around 20.2% of the total investment assets.

 

Next were the assets of investments in local cash instruments, with a value of SR23.767 billion, accounting for around 19.4% of the total. Investments in foreign cash instruments ranked fourth with a value of 14.525 billion Saudi Riyals, representing about 11.8% of the total investment assets.

 

In fifth place were the assets of investments in local bonds and sukuk, with a value of SR13.787 billion, representing around 11.2% of the total. Assets of investments in the "other local assets" category came sixth, with a value of SR10.994 billion, representing around 9% of the total.

 

Assets of investments in foreign stocks ranked seventh, with a value of SR3.497 billion, representing about 2.9% of the total. In eighth place were the assets of investments in foreign bonds, with a value of SR2.711 billion, accounting for around 2.2% of the total. Finally, in ninth place were the assets of investments in the "other foreign assets" category, with a value of SR663 million.--TradeArabia News Service