Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 19

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) is going to further continue diversification policy of its investment portfolio, SOFAZ deputy executive director Israfil Mammadov told Trend Nov.19.

"We consider various options for diversification," Mammadov said. "This includes both the currency basket and purchase of various assets: shares, real estate and gold. Acquisition of assets is of more priority for us, because in this case, currency portfolio automatically expands as well."

He went on to add that the acquisition of real estate is the most profitable investment for the State Oil Fund.

"Despite the fact that investments in real estate account for only 4.3 percent of the fund, the profitability of these investments is up to 15 percent," said Mammadov.

Some 74.1 percent of the investment portfolio of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) was invested in financial tools for up to five years in January-September 2015.

As of October 1, 2015, the total volume of SOFAZ investment portfolio is $34.6 billion or 99.6 percent of the total volume of assets.

SOFAZ assets are partially placed in securities, tools of the monetary market such as deposits and bank accounts.

As of October 1, 2015, SOFAZ assets reduced by 6.38 percent compared to early 2015 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $34.74 billion.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

Based on SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.