SSIF assets increase to JD15 billion in Q1 2024

AMMAN — The Social Security Investment Fund (SSIF), the investment division of the Social Security Corporation (SSC), announced on Sunday that its assets for the first quarter of 2024 have surpassed JD15 billion.

SSIF’s CEO Ezzeddine Kanakrieh, said that the fund’s income, derived from a variety of investment tools, reached JD216 million, marking an increase of JD11 million compared with the JD205 million earned during the same period in the previous year, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The primary sources of this income were the bond portfolio, which contributed JD130 million, the money market instruments portfolio with JD34 million, and JD43 million from cash dividends received from companies that conducted their general assembly meetings in the first quarter of this year, he added. 

Kanakrieh also highlighted that the SSIF’s share of cash dividends from companies’ business results in 2023 is expected to be around JD160 million, representing the highest cash distributions since the fund’s establishment.

He further noted that the anticipated increase would influence the fund’s profits from the stock portfolio in the second quarter of this year because many major companies held their general assembly meetings after the first quarter, which means a portion of the cash dividends was not reflected in the first quarter’s financial statements.

The CEO emphasised that the core components of the investment portfolios have remained consistent, adhering to the ratios specified in the investment policy. 

He also pointed out that the bond portfolio constitutes 57.3 per cent of the fund’s total portfolio, followed by the stock portfolio at 15.6 per cent, the money market instruments portfolio at 14 per cent, the real estate investment portfolio at 5.7 per cent, the loan portfolio at 3.6 per cent, and the tourism investment portfolio at 2.1 per cent.

Kanakrieh also highlighted the ongoing projects being managed by the fund’s investment divisions,  underscoring the efforts being made to execute a series of projects in line with the master plan for Aqaba, with the goal of transforming the city into a premier tourist and investment destination.

Kanakrieh also noted that the SSC-owned hotels achieved “unprecedented” operating profits in 2023, amounting to approximately JD12 million, which represents the highest historical performance for these hotels.