General Secretary of the Information and Banking awareness Committee in Saudi banks, Talaat Hafez ,, said that the volume of mutual fund assets in Saudi banks is nearly 90 billion riyals, the equivalent of 24 billion dollars, and that till the current month of May.
He added, "There are 250 diversified investment funds, either open or closed, represents one of the leading investment banking channels," according to "Middle East newspaper ".
This comes while recent data announced by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency about the decline of number of participants in the investment funds, as it reached about 246 thousand subscribers by the end of 2014. The decrease reveals more than 50%, compared to the year 2005, with reference to the fact that the assets of local and foreign investment funds consist of stocks, bonds, cash, tools, other assets, and real estate investments.
Hafez stressed that all investment channels of the Saudi banks do not have the right to take the decision to dispose of the balance on behalf of the client, whether in money management or be involved in any investment channel, on the grounds that the first and last decision is for the client, even if the client is of the owners of dormant accounts that Over the years without a move, he says.
By asking Hafiz how much stagnant money at Saudi banks is, he stressed absence of any figures about that, saying: " numbers are variable in instantaneous manner thus it is difficult to be identified, along with that there is a classification of accounts, as accounts which are not witnessed any movement within 6 months are considered in-active accounts, and so to be up to 5 years without any movement, and thus be described as stagnant accounts. "