Direct Economic Impact

SICO’s direct value generated and distributed is comprised of its revenues, operating costs, employee wages and benefits, payments to government, community investments, and in-kind donations. SICO also indirectly employs a workforce in industries such as insurance, legal, accounting, technology, and consulting services. The Bank also generates economic growth and job creation through capital investments and transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.

The Bank introduced a first-of-its-kind regional Employee Savings Scheme (ESS) with SICO itself as one of the underlying portfolios of the scheme. The innovative fund, set up as a trust registered in Jersey, will offer strong benefits to employees investing a quota of their salaries, with SICO matching the contribution. Its ring-fenced assets portfolio includes global low-cost exchange traded funds (ETFs) that will be managed by SICO. Globally, the ESS will be administered by Intertrust Group in the Netherlands, while AON compensation consultants from the UK have been appointed as advisors. 

Indirect Economic Impact

Education

SICO is dedicated to increasing the accessibility of education through proactive and engaging community initiatives. The Bank promotes financial literacy and education through several programs, including the “Women in Investment (WIM)” Programme in partnership with CFA Society Bahrain, the Financial Literacy Summer Camp in partnership with Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) and the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF), and Bahrain Bourse’s TradeQuest Program, a competitive financial simulation that provides university and high school students with real-life experiences simulating local and international financial markets. SICO also lends its support to Bahrain’s flagship educational programs, including the Al Mabarrah Al Khalifia Foundation and the Crown Prince’s International Scholarship Program (CPISP), which it has contributed to for the past 18 years.

Market Making

In order to create liquidity that builds the foundation for investor confidence, enhancing volumes, increasing valuations, and improving performance in the market, SICO has been a pioneer market maker for a number of largescale listed entities on the Bahrain Bourse (BHB). With a robust track record of over 28 years of success, SICO’s Market Making division actively participates in bid and offer sides, narrows down price spreads, and creates a market for select stocks, post-IPO listings, cross listings, and mature listings. The Bahrain Liquidity Fund, which launched in 2016, continues to create liquidity and to generate absolute returns for investors around the level of market returns. Since its inception, the Fund has gained traction and positive investment response, and continues to incur positive impact on market volumes, valuation, and performance. BLF transactions contributed 28.4% of the total ADTV on the BHB in 2023, compared to 36% in the previous year, the BLF generated returns of 3.1% in 2023.

Advancing the Financial Sector

Financial institutions worldwide are keen to integrate innovative technology solutions into their day-to-day operations in order to revolutionize the way that they interact with clients, offering them leading solutions and promoting digitalization across the industry. Bahrain is currently fast emerging as a regional leader in the fintech space with a number of growing local players. SICO is proud to have partnered with Fintech Bay, a versatile technology incubator that offers entrepreneurs a dedicated co-working space featuring state-of-the-art meeting rooms, innovation labs, acceleration programs, and educational opportunities.

SICO is also a key sponsor of Bahrain’s CFA society, a non-profit organization established by the CFA Institute in 2006. The society contributes to the development of local capital markets and the professional skills of its members through educational initiatives, volunteer opportunities, and networking events.

SICO’s CEO, Najla Al-Shirawi, along with senior executives from all of SICO’s business lines are regular participants in conferences and panels addressing key issues in the financial sector in Bahrain and throughout the GCC.