Iran's oil industry pension funds deny a rumour that Ahdaf Investment will be dissolved

Behzad Shamsi, a board member of Iran's oil industry pension funds, denied in remarks published on Sunday, 2 August 2026, a rumour that Ahdaf Investment Company is to be dissolved, saying that breaking the company up into 11 holdings is untrue and merely a rumour.

He described the fund's main challenge as a year on year shift in the flow of resources in and out to the fund's disadvantage, adding that while no new staff are being hired, the number of pensioners keeps rising. He said part of the fund's investments were neither made nor managed correctly, which has reduced its income stream.

Shamsi said the new board's priority is to move towards businesses less dependent on energy sector income, naming pharmaceuticals, food, financial services and particularly banks, industry and mining, and agriculture as areas for diversifying the portfolio. He added that the board's approach to loss making companies is to make them commercially viable rather than to sell them off, and that divestments leading to job losses should be avoided as far as possible.