The assets of local and foreign investment funds in the Saudi market totalled 122.578 billion riyals ($33bn) at the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, marking a five per cent growth from the previous quarter.
Consequently, these funds had achieved an estimated growth of 5.460bn riyals, up from 117.117bn riyals by the end of Q3 2023, a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said.
This growth was bolstered by a 7pc increase in local assets, rising by approximately 6.348bn riyals to approximately 101.182bn riyals, as per the Saudi Central Bank’s monthly statistical bulletin for February 2024. These assets constituted about 82.5pc of the total assets of the investment funds.
Moreover, the number of subscribers saw a quarterly increase of around 4pc, reaching 1,080,455 million subscribers by the end of Q4 2023. The number of active funds also rose by about 3pc, totalling 291 investment funds.
The total assets of foreign funds amounted to around 21.396bn riyals, accounting for about 17.5pc of the total assets of the investment funds.
Meanwhile, the total assets of open-ended investment funds, comprising 267 funds in total, amounted to 93.298bn riyals, while the total assets of 24 closed-ended investment funds amounted to around 29.279bn riyals.
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 27.904bn riyals and representing around 22.8pc of the total assets of the investment funds. Real estate investment assets followed, amounting to 24.730bn riyals and constituting around 20.2pc of the total investment assets.
Next were the assets of investments in local cash instruments, with a value of 23.767bn riyals, accounting for around 19.4pc of the total. Investments in foreign cash instruments ranked fourth with a value of 14.525bn riyals, representing about 11.8pc of the total investment assets.
In fifth place were the assets of investments in local bonds and sukuk, with a value of 13.787bn riyals, representing around 11.2pc of the total. Assets of investments in the “other local assets” category came sixth, with a value of 10.994bn riyals, representing around 9pc of the total.
Assets of investments in foreign stocks ranked seventh, with a value of 3.497bn riyals, representing about 2.9pc of the total. In eighth place were the assets of investments in foreign bonds, with a value of 2.711bn riyals, accounting for around 2.2pc of the total. Finally, in ninth place were the assets of investments in the “other foreign assets” category, with a value of 663m riyals.