RIYADH — The Capital Market Authority (CMA) issued Wednesday the Quarterly Statistical Bulletin (QSB) for the third quarter (Q3) of 2022. Through this bulletin, the CMA aims to provide several statistical information and data about the Saudi capital market that is important for investors, market analysts, and academic and student researchers.

Also, the CMA aims to raise the level of transparency and disclosure and stimulates and develop investment in the capital market.

The bulletin provides a variety of data on the Saudi capital market including Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), equity, debt instruments, investment funds in addition to data regarding Capital Market Institutions, listed companies and authorized Financial Technology (FinTech) Companies, and further, a full chapter about corporate governance.

The quarterly bulletin data showed that the number of portfolios under management increased at a record rate of about 680% to reach 20.625 portfolios in Q3 of the current year, compared to 2,644 portfolios by the same period of 2021, and an increase of 459% compared to 3,689 portfolios by the end of Q2 of 2022.

The said increase is due to the high raise of the private portfolios number of one of the capital market institutions which launched its businesses recently during Q3 of 2022.

The asset value of portfolios under management raised at about 10% reaching to SR235.72 billion in Q3 of 2022 compared to SR213.91 billion in the same period of 2021. The local equity represented about 53% of the total assets of the portfolios under management reaching to SR125.4 billion in Q3 of 2022, as the local equity in the portfolios raised at about 10% compared to SR114.31 billion in the same period of 2021.

The investment funds stake represented 23% of the total assets of the portfolios under management with an increase of 18% reaching to SR53.7 billion compared to SR45.4 billion in Q3 of 2021.

The listed companies on the main market (TASI) reached to 217 companies, with an increase of 6% compared to 205 companies in Q3 of 2021. While the listed companies on the parallel market “Nomu" reached to 38 companies, with an increase of 217%, compared to 12 companies in the same period of 2021 or a surge of 7 companies at a rate of 23% of the market listed-companies in Q2 of 2022, as the companies’ number was then 31 only.

The CMA approved the offering of about three companies in the main market and five companies in “Nomu" during Q3 of the current year. Nine offers and listing requests in the main market, in addition to other 61 in “Nomu", are still under study during the same period.

As for the value of ownership in the main market, the value of the qualified foreign investors' (QFIs) ownership surged to 19% at SR280 billion in Q3 of 2022 compared to SR235.7 billion in the same period of 2021.

As for the investor's classification, according to the investment behavior; the value of the institutional investors' ownership amounted to 96.27% in Q3 of 2022, compared to 95.89% by the same period of 2021.

The number of investment funds increased to 890 funds, the highest in history, after an increase of 22% when compared with the same period of 2021, including 253 public funds and 637 private funds compared to 254 and 473 funds respectively in Q3 of 2021.

The number of the public and private investment funds subscribers amounted to 50% to reach 677,447 in Q3 of 2022, compared to 453,141 by the same period of 2021.

The biggest number of public and private investment funds subscribers were in the operating funds in the real estate sector, as the subscribers of the real estate investment traded funds represented 45% of the total subscribers in public investment funds while the subscribers of the real estate funds represented 61% of the total subscribers in private investment funds.

As for the Corporate Governance; 53 general assemblies, attended by 11,655 shareholders, were held in Q3 of 2022, discussing 301 items of which only five items were rejected. The number of the non-executive board chairmen reached to 232, with their 197 non-executive vice chairmen and 28 executive vice chairmen, 1,183 non-executive board members, and 141 executive board members.

Concerning the Financial Technology (FinTech) Companies; the number of authorized FinTech in the Equity Crowd Funding platforms amounted to 9 companies in Q3 of 2022, and the combined funds of crowdfunding companies reached to SR20 million. A number of 25 institutional clients, 1,188 qualified clients, and about 38,000 retail clients benefited from the services of FinTech companies. — SPA