The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
ABU DHABI / WAM
FTSE Russell, the global index, data and analytics provider, on Wednesday, agreed to enter into a full index partnership with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), to become its benchmark administrator for domestic equity indexes in Abu Dhabi.
The signing ceremony took place at the ADX in the presence of Khalid Bin Shaiban Al Muhairi, Chairman of ADX, and the agreement was signed by Khalifa Al Mansouri, Chief Executive of the Exchange, and Waqas Samad, CEO of FTSE Russell.
Under the terms of the agreement, FTSE Russell will begin providing daily index calculations on the General Index, which includes all companies listed on the ADX and nine sector-specific indexes, including banks, consumer staples, energy, financial services, industrials, insurance, real estate, services and telecommunications.
Commenting on the agreement, Al Mansouri said, “We are honoured to benefit from FTSE Russell’s reputation and expertise as a leading global index provider to develop our new indexes, and the announcement coincides with the first steps and implementation phases of ‘Dynamic 20/20’ which is the starting point of our ADX One business development strategy. The new indexes will enhance our market attractiveness to foreign investors and improve the global competitiveness of our trading environment.”
Samad said, “The agreement demonstrates FTSE Russell’s commitment to working together with market participants across the Middle East region. We look forward to working closely with the ADX and index users to launch a range of new benchmarks in the coming months.”
The indexes will transition to FTSE Russell’s index methodology, with index names to be co-branded. ADX’s indexes cover over 66 listed companies listed, with a total market capitalisation of approximately $145 billion by the end of 2019. Indexes are used by financial institutions and asset owners for a variety of purposes, including to benchmark performance, inform about product development, and conduct market research and analysis and to underpin exchange-traded funds.
By providing the enhanced ADX offering, the new indices will widen investor audiences and institutions of the ADX index family. In parallel, the new ADX indexes to be created by FTSE Russell aim to increase the quality and depth of sustainable investments in the UAE, while enhancing the performance of financial markets.