RIYADH — The value of ownership of foreign investors, who are qualified to invest in the main Saudi stock market (Tadawul All Share Index -TASI), surged 3.5 percent to SR290.07 billion ($77.3 billion) by the end of the third quarter of 2023, compared to the same quarter of 2022, when it reached SR280.24 billion ($74.7 billion). According to the statistical figures, released on Sunday by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for the third quarter of 2023, the number of securities offered through debt instrument platforms reached 311 bonds, with a total value of SR377.7 million and thus registering a record number, the highest in history, as it increases in terms of number by 500 percent, and in terms of the total value of the bonds offered, by 325 percent on an annual basis. The CMA report indicated that the ownership percentage of institutional investors in the main market (TASI) reached 96.5 percent at the end of this quarter. Regarding financial technology companies, the number of investors in automated advisor platforms reached 119,000 investors, with an estimated value of about SR650.3 million. According to the report, the number of companies listed on the main stock market (TASI) jumped 6 percent to 230 companies, compared to 217 companies in the same quarter of 2022, while the number of companies listed on the parallel market (Nomu) soared 76 percent to 67 companies, compared to 38 companies, in the same period of the previous year. According to the report, the number of investment funds increased by 35.8 percent in the third quarter of 2023, on an annual basis, to reach 1,209 investment funds, thus posting a new record, the highest in history. The number of subscribers to public and private investment funds jumped, exceeding the one million mark for the first time in the history of the financial market, reaching more than 1.126 million subscribers by the end of the third quarter of 2023, compared to 677400 subscribers during the same period of the previous year, with a growth rate of 66 percent. The CMA approved the offering of four companies in the parallel market (Nomu) during the third quarter of the year 2023, while five applications in the main market and 41 applications in the parallel market are still under study during the same period. It is noteworthy that the Capital Market Authority issued the statistical bulletin, based on the principle of making statistical information and market data available to traders and analysts in the Saudi financial market and researchers, including students and academics, with the aim of raising the level of transparency and disclosure, and stimulating and developing investments in the financial market.
