The new million: Number of female investors in Saudi stock market hits record high

The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) has revealed that the number of women investing in the Saudi stock market reached more than one million by the end of the third quarter of this year.  

The number of women with portfolios in the Saudi bourse, the largest financial market in the Middle East, stood at 1.003 million at the end of the quarter, the highest level recorded in three years, the latest Arabic report released by the CMA showed.

 The total number of investors in the stock market was 4.72 million by the end of the third quarter of 2018, bringing the total number of investment portfolios by individuals in the Saudi stock market to 9.75 million by the end of the same quarter, it said.

The number of women investing in the stock market rose by 17,860 at the end of third quarter of 2018, up from 985,500 from the end of the same quarter of 2017. The figures showed that 13,400 female investors had been added since the end of the second quarter this year, when the number stood at 989,900.

On the other hand, the number of male investors in the Saudi stock market also increased to 3.72 million, up by 46,000 compared to the third quarter of the previous year, when there were 3.67 million male investors. Third quarter numbers showed a gain of around 34,600 since the end of the second quarter, when the number stood at 3.68 million.

Last year, the Saudi stock market appointed its first female chairperson, Sarah Al-Suhaimi, who became the first woman to chair a major government financial institution in Saudi Arabia. This is in line with a major shift taking place in the conservative kingdom, where women were kept out of the workforce due to societal as well as legal barriers, such as gender segregation. (Read more here).

Last month, the kingdom saw the appointment of the first chairwoman of a publicly-listed bank, after Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank agreed that Lubna Olayan will be the chairperson of the board of combined bank on completion of their merger. (Read more here).

Further reading:

• Gender agenda: Saudi Shoura Council members recommend scrapping male guardian scheme
• Number of foreign investors in Saudi stock market doubled last year, says chair
• The missing million: Saudi women face grim realities in jobs market
• Saudi women on top: Three key appointments within six days
• Saudi women don’t need male permission to start businesses

(Reporting by Nada Al Rifai; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(nada.rifai@refinitiv.com)

© ZAWYA 2018