Riyadh – Mubasher: The market capitalisation of Saudi Arabia has jumped by 450% from SAR 2 trillion to SAR 11 trillion at the beginning of 2024, according to Senior Investment Advisor at State Street, Ramu Thiagarajan.

Thiagaraja underscored the Saudi capital market’s growth during a panel session at the third edition of the Saudi Capital Market Forum, according to a press release.

The two-day event witnessed the launch of the 'Overview of Active vs. Passive Strategies in the Saudi Stock Market' report that came out as a collaboration between Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company and State Street to analyse stock selection strategies.

Participation in the Saudi capital market is now democratised and over time, it has led to a different pattern of price discovery, Thiagarajan said.

He added that Saudi Arabia’s growth plans have evolved, while market leaders across different sectors have changed and sectors like technology and health are becoming leaders in the market.

The advisor further referred to the increased cross-sectional dispersion in the returns pattern since 2020, which resulted from an extent to some companies being up 300% to 400% in the last couple of years.

As for trading patterns, Thiagarajan noted that non-institutional investors form most trading, while ownership is predominantly institutional.

It is worth noting that the Saudi event will be taken outside the Kingdom’s borders for the first time as Saudi Tadawul Group will launch CMF–CONNECT in Hong Kong this May.

In addition, the launch of a Repo trading platform was announced at the Saudi Capital Market Forum 2024 in Riyadh.