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ADX to List First ETF in March; Offer Derivatives by Year-end

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Tom Healy said Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange would be the first bourse in the Middle East to offer an asset-backed product that would expand choices and opportunities to investors.

He said the ADX has received a tremendous response to its ambitious ETFs programme. Strong interest has been expressed by counterparts in Tokyo, Taiwan and in Pakistan who are eager to launch their ETFs on ADX in order to expand their investor base.

A UAE issuer will launch the nation’s first ETF that will include large ADX companies, he said without giving more details.

The ETFs launch was originally planned for 2008-end, but was rescheduled until March following the international financial crisis and nervousness in the capital markets.

ETF, Healy explained, is a new investment vehicle to the region. It holds assets such as stocks/ bonds and trades at almost the same price as the net value of its underlying assets over the course of the trading day.

He said that the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) was finalising the rules and regulations, laying out the procedures and mechanisms to launch ETFs.

Healy was of the view that there was a strong appetite for ETFs, which could offer share indices on diverse sectors like real estate, electronics, automobile and even SMEs.

He expected that at least 5-6 ETFs could be listed on ADX in the short-term as it has huge potential.

ADX is bullish on the opportunities to be created by ETFs and the listing of derivatives by the end of year. The plan is for derivatives to be followed by futures and options.

IPOs: Apart from falling share prices, the only thing badly affected by the global economic slowdown is the delay in family IPOs. The market has to settle first, and then new rules on offering 30 per cent of the share capital as opposed to 55 per cent needs to be promulgated to give a push to IPO activity.

As many as 40 family firms in Abu Dhabi, he said may issue IPOs, to raise capital in the near term.

haseebhaider@khaleejtimes.com