Social Security Investment Fund’s assets grow by 2.7% in 1st quarter

AMMAN — The assets of the Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF) grew to JD10.47 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2019, compared with JD10.19 at the beginning of the year, marking a 2.7 per cent increase, SSIF CEO Kholoud Saqqaf announced on Sunday.

In an SSIF statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Saqqaf said that the fund achieved an income of JD166 million in the first three months of 2019, compared with JD130 million in the same period of 2018, constituting a rise of 28 per cent.

“Despite the unstable performance of the Amman Stock Exchange since the beginning of the year, the strategic distribution of the share portfolio, which is composed of long-term investments in big national companies of vital sectors, contributed to achieving the highest cash dividends since the fund’s establishment,” she noted. 

The CEO expected that dividends would exceed JD110 million.

The SSIF invests in companies that enjoy solid financial centres and achieve good growth rates, the most important of which are banks, transformative industries and services, which managed to achieve good results, Saqqaf pointed out. 

She noted that within the fund’s 2019-2021 strategy, the SSIF is currently considering joining several projects through the leasing mechanism in the health and education sectors. 

The fund’s revenues from various investments in 2018 grew by 22 per cent to reach JD439 million, compared with JD360 million in 2017, Saqqaf said in previous remarks at the beginning of the year. 

The CEO added that the banking sector is a main driver of the national economy, which is characterised by high efficiency levels, which reflected on SSIF’s keenness to invest in 12 Islamic and commercial banks with possession rates of 2 to 21 per cent.

She noted that the SSIF is the biggest investment fund in the Kingdom and owns long-term investments in several vital sectors of the economy, including tourism, mining, ICT, banks, conventional and renewable energy sectors.