SSIF assets, revenues rise in 2019

AMMAN — The Social Security Investment Fund's (SSIF) total assets showed a 7-per cent increase by the end of September 2019, increasing by JD714 million to reach JD10.9 billion, when compared with the beginning of the year, SSIF CEO Kholoud Saqqaf said on Sunday.

SSIF’s revenues increased to JD442.6 million by the end of September, compared with JD347.9 million during the same period of 2018, constituting a 27-per cent growth, Saqqaf added in an SSIF statement.

The CEO attributed the growth to the increase in the investment returns, in particular the Treasury bonds, bank deposits and cash distributions from companies that SSIF has shares in.

The investment volume in bonds through the end of the third quarter of the year stood at some JD5.7 billion, constituting 54 per cent of the fund's total assets, she said, stressing that the underwriting total has led to increasing the SSIF's bond portfolio by JD500 million. 

The value of returns on these bonds exceeded JD230 million by the end of September, with an average return of 5.9 per cent, which is among the highest return achieved by investment tools that the SSIF invests in, Saqqaf noted.  

The CEO pointed out that the volume of investment in Treasury bonds stood at JD4 billion in 2016, JD4.7 in 2017 and JD5.2 billion in 2018.