Identifying the Factors Influencing the Investment Return of the Armed Forces’ Pension Fund in the Iranian Financial Market

The return on social security funds investments _ like any other type of investment _ is subject to the factors that govern risk and return. Therefore, if investments are made without taking proper precautions and foresight, it could result in negative returns, and thereby, the wastage of capital. Such errors can jeopardize the economic wellbeing and financial security of investors, who will be dependent on the proper functioning of the fund to fulfill their obligations after retirement. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to identify the factors affecting the investments of the Armed Forces’ Pension Fund in the Iranian financial market. Due to the sensitivities associated with access to information in this area, the paper relies on content analysis method and a focus group consisting of 10 experts (each of whom have had at least five years of investment experience in the Iranian financial market) to gather its data.The paper identifies 30 main factors affecting investments, which were subsequently classified into five general categories: (1) the factors related to the structure of the fund, factors related to fund management, macro factors, regulations, and finally factors related to the country's financial market.