RIYADH: Describing the growth of the Kingdom’s IPO market as “unbelievable,” a top official of J.P. Morgan said the Kingdom “is a good place for global investors to park capital with some very high-quality companies.” He also said with a global IPO market of around $450 billion, there is enough capital out there to absorb the Saudi market issuance. Talking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Capital Market Forum in Riyadh on Sunday, Alex Watkins, managing director and co-head of EMEA ECM at J.P. Morgan, acknowledged that the Kingdom’s stock market has recorded unprecedented growth in the last couple of years with the IPO value tripling in size since 2020. “If you take a look at the last three years, the Saudi IPO market went from $5 billion of issuance in 2020, $9.5 billion in 2021, and almost $15 billion last year. So unbelievable growth in the region in terms of activity,” Watkins stated. He said that as many as 70 companies are in talks with Tadawul for a possible listing on the exchange. Watkins added that the Kingdom has been quite an investable market demonstrating attractive returns and providing a clear path for liquidity. He also added that historically, the size and liquidity of the Saudi market were challenges compared to other emerging markets which offered investors many opportunities. “Benefiting from both political and economic stability, which even stands out relative to the Western markets, Saudi Arabia is a good place for global funds to park capital with some very high-quality companies,” Watkins added. Commenting on the global markets, the J.P. Morgan official said during the last six months, markets have been pleasantly surprised with inflation and payroll data showing signs of recovery. Watkins, however, cautioned that there might be volatility ahead. “I still think there’s a lot of investor anxiety out there given the uncertainties ahead. For now, those bears have been wrong with global and regional data being strong. Saudi Arabia is well-positioned in absolute and relative terms.”