Sahm Capital Hosts Its First Investment Summit in Riyadh, Spotlighting Vision 2030 and Shifting Global Markets

Sahm Capital, one of the Kingdom’s fastest-growing fintech institutions, successfully concluded its inaugural Sahm Investment Strategy Summit in Riyadh, bringing together more than 200 investors, policymakers, and financial institutions for a landmark day of dialogue on the future of capital markets and wealth creation in Saudi Arabia.

The event’s theme of “With Sahm, Own the Top,” conveys the opportunities by convening the rapidly expanding Sahm users with representatives from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the Saudi Tadawul Group, the Financial Academy, Nasdaq, and other leading organizations.

Rapid Platform Growth

Opening the event, Mohammed Asiri, CFO of Sahm Capital, reflected on the company’s strong momentum since its launch two years ago. He highlighted Sahm’s rapid rise to become one of the Kingdom’s fastest-growing trading platforms, including surpassing over one million users in its first year and sustaining nearly 70% year-on-year user growth in its second year. Asiri also noted that Sahm’s continuous rollout of advanced trading tools and integrated social-trading features has played a significant role in reshaping how retail investors participate in the Saudi capital market.

Asiri stressed that the summit represents the continued commitment of Sahm in transforming data, education, and technology into accessible opportunities for everyday investors, emphasizing the company will remain focused on empowerment, accessibility, and continuous innovation for every investor on their way to growing their personal wealth.

Global and Local Outlooks for 2026

The summit opened with a forward-looking global outlook delivered by Rami El Dokany, Secretary General of the Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM), who examined how shifting macroeconomic conditions are reshaping investor strategy heading into 2026. He highlighted the cooling of U.S. inflation, the anticipated path of rate cuts, intensifying geopolitical trade tensions, and the continuing surge in AI-driven productivity as the four defining forces of global asset trends in the coming year.

He outlined four strategic investment pillars for 2026 to complement these trends including diversifying toward emerging markets, strengthening exposure to fixed-income instruments, increasing allocations to gold and precious metals amid market volatility, and positioning early in AI as a structural multi-year growth theme.

That global perspective was followed by a domestic deep dive from Dr. Adnan Abo Alhaija, Associate Professor of Finance at Alfaisal University, focusing on Saudi Arabia’s accelerating economic momentum under Vision 2030 and how ongoing reforms led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman are creating a diversified economic engine across tourism, entertainment, technology, renewable energy, logistics, and digital infrastructure.

Noting that structural integration is positioning Saudi Arabia as both a regional and global growth leader, Dr. Adnan said that these sectors are growing not in isolation, but as interconnected ecosystems that attract global expertise, stimulate new revenue streams, and create an enabling environment for investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
 

Digital Assets and AI Take Center Stage

Digital transformation was a focal point of the summit. Dr. Gunsel Topbas, Co-Founder & Fintech Practice Lead at Manifest Executive Consultancy, delivered an in-depth analysis of the next phase of web3-driven fintech innovation driven by blockchain infrastructure, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets. He highlighted how global and GCC institutions have leapt from experimentation to large-scale adoption as regulatory frameworks mature and infrastructure becomes enterprise-ready. He emphasized that tokenization is no longer theoretical; it is enabling fractional ownership, 24/7 cross-border settlement, operational efficiency, and new models of liquidity that could redefine how both institutions and retail investors access assets in the coming decade.

In a separate keynote, Sam Chang, Chairman of the RUIDU Investment Decision Committee, demonstrated how AI, alternative datasets, and systematic modelling are becoming the new foundations of market decision-making. Chang explained that quantitative investing is evolving from a niche strategy into a mainstream requirement as markets become more complex and data-driven.

The Middle East, he noted, is emerging as a global center for quantitative innovation due to support at sovereign wealth scale, regulatory openness, and strong digital infrastructure.

Market Structure and Regulatory Evolution

The summit also examined how structural modernization is reshaping Saudi Arabia’s capital markets. In a panel featuring leaders from Wamid, Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), and Nasdaq, experts discussed the accelerating role of AI in market analytics, the impact of advanced matching engines and data platforms on liquidity, and the growing importance of seamless cross-border connectivity to attract international capital.

A subsequent session featuring representatives from the CMA, ewpartners, and the Financial Academy explored how national and global trends will influence Saudi Arabia’s investment landscape and the emerging industries aligned with Vision 2030, and the evolving skills and capabilities needed to sustain long-term development. Panellists noted that with strong macroeconomic fundamentals, position Saudi Arabia to be one of the fastest-growing major equity markets globally in 2026, with a significantly expanded role for both institutional and retail investors.

About Sahm Capital:

Sahm Capital -سهم كابيتال, registered in Riyadh, holds full regulatory licenses from the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to provide Dealing, Advising, Custody, Arranging, and Managing Investments and Operating Funds Activities in the Securities Business services (License no. 22251-25). Sahm Capital has established itself as one of the fastest-growing members of the Saudi Exchange, leveraging proprietary technology and innovative financial solutions to deliver seamless, one-stop financial services. For more information, visit: www.sahmcapital.com