Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s investment potential is being recognised by traders with the number of funds operating in the Kingdom hitting an all-time high, according to the Capital Market Authority.

The organization’s latest bulletin revealed that in the final three months of last year, the number of investment funds in the Kingdom hit 941 – a surge of 25 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

While the number of public funds reached 255, the number of private funds amounted to 686, compared to 256 and 495 funds respectively in the same quarter a year before.

Securing more funds into Saudi Arabia is a key part of the Vision 2030 initiative, with the Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman previously saying: “Our nation holds strong investment capabilities, which we will harness to stimulate our economy and diversify our revenues.”

The number of subscribers in both public and private investment funds increased by 26 percent to hit 677,155 subscribers in the final three months of 2022, compared to 536,405 subscribers a year earlier.

The largest number of participants in both the public and private funds were concentrated in funds operating in the real estate sector.

On the other hand, the number of firms listed on the Saudi main stock market, also known as Tadawul, has reached 223 firms by the end of December 2022, reflecting a 6 percent surge on a year earlier.

As for the parallel market, also referred to as Nomu, the number of companies listed in the same period reached 46, reflecting an increase of 229 percent when compared to the 14 companies listed in the final three months of 2021.

During the last quarter of 2022, the CMA approved seven firms in the main market and 20 companies in the parallel market. 

In addition to this, the CMA also received four requests for offerings and listings in the main market as well as 79 similar requests in the parallel market, all of which were under study during the period.

The bulletin further noted that the ownership value of foreign investors eligible to invest in the stock market increased by 10 percent to reach SR270.97 billion ($72 billion), compared to SR245.9 billion in the same quarter a year before.

Regarding the classification of investors, according to investment behavior, the ownership percentage of institutional investors in the main market increased to 96.2 percent, compared to 95.84 percent in the same period in 2021.

The CMA’s quarterly bulletin poses a method of making statistical information and market data available to dealers, analysts, researchers, students, and academics in the Saudi financial market with the aim of raising the level of transparency and disclosure as well as stimulating and further developing investments in the financial market.