YEREVAN, September 11. /ARKA/. Armenian investment company assets have grown approximately sixfold since 2021, from 67 billion drams to over 400 billion drams, said Grigor Harutyunyan, CEO of Dimension Investments.
“Over the past few years, the investment industry has demonstrated unprecedented growth. If we look at the numbers, I think it’s appropriate to look back at 2021. The number of investment companies has doubled since the end of 2021: there were 13-14 of them then, and now there are 27,” Harutyunyan said at the “Investment Prospects 2026” forum in Yerevan.
Meanwhile, the equity capital of investment companies has grown from 12 billion drams to approximately 130 billion drams.
“That is, this growth was not due to leverage. It’s quite healthy growth,” Harutyunyan noted.
External Factors and Sustainable Growth
Speaking about the reasons for this dynamic, the head of Dimension Investments noted the significant influence of external factors, including the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
According to him, the impact of these factors on Armenia’s investment sector was multilayered. Some of the capital that flowed into the country stayed, while others left, while companies earned commission income, increased profits, and increased their equity capital.
Harutyunyan noted that this component of growth may be unsustainable, but the capital influx also had longer-term consequences.
“The incoming capital created a very strong demand for high-quality investment services, a wider range of investment products, and access to various global markets. Our investment companies have created the necessary infrastructure, and it remains,” he said.
Another important factor, he noted, was the influx of qualified specialists into Armenia, who brought with them professional experience, expertise, and connections to foreign markets.
“Even if some of these people leave at some point, these connections, experience, and the established infrastructure will remain,” Harutyunyan noted.
In this regard, he did not rule out a slowdown in the industry’s growth rate, while emphasizing that the infrastructure built in recent years remains stable.
Companies from new industries are entering the market.
Harutyunyan also pointed to structural and qualitative changes in the Armenian capital market.
According to him, in 2024, out of approximately 26 bond issuers, only five or six represented the non-financial sector.
“This year, in the last two months alone, we brought to the market and listed six new companies from the non-financial sector. This was their first entry into the capital market: six new companies from five new industries,” he said.
Harutyunyan noted that some of these companies are well-known in the Armenian market and their products are used by a significant portion of consumers, but until now they have not entered the capital market.
