ABU DHABI - Abdulla Salem Al Nuaimi, Chief Executive Officer of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), stated that 2025 will be exceptional in all aspects, whether in terms of listings, new product launches, or technological development.

In statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of the annual conference of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA), Al Nuaimi emphasised that the market continues to modernise its technology platforms to provide innovative services to investors.

"In the first half of next year, we will undertake a comprehensive modernisation of the trading systems, which will support our strategic vision and contribute to the process of launching new products in the financial market and enhancing the customer experience," he said.

Al Nuaimi said, "2024 was an exceptional year by any measure, as we witnessed the listing of 26 financial products, including the initial listings of 6 new companies, and a number of bonds and sukuk, including 10 green bonds."

He explained that this diversity reflects the market's efforts to promote sustainability and attract different types of investors from all over the world, which contributes to broadening the market base and increasing liquidity.

Al Nuaimi pointed to the remarkable increase in the number of investors in recent years, noting that the demand for the market reflects the confidence of investors.

"We have a continuous growth of about 7 percent in the number of investors, and for foreign investors, we have seen a significant growth over the last three years, with their share of daily trades reaching 40 per cent," he said.

He explained that daily trading is generally divided into 20 per cent by individuals and 80 percent by institutions. 

Regarding the coming year, Al Nuaimi emphasised that the market is looking forward to another strong year. "The annual growth rate of trading volumes has reached 11 percent over three years, and this growth continues, and we expect 2025 to be as exceptional as 2024, and we have plans for new listings covering multiple sectors such as investment funds and derivatives in addition to equities," Al Nuaimi said.

He explained that the first quarter of the year is usually relatively quiet as companies prepare their balance sheets, so the first listings won't be until the end of Q1 2025.

Al Nuaimi spoke about the Tabadul Hub, which he believes represents a quantum leap in connecting financial markets, explaining that the platform currently includes 8 signed exchanges and serves 7.6 million investors, with more than 300 financial products available for trading.

"We expect more markets to join the platform in the future, and there are plans to add 11 additional markets to the platform, opening up a wider horizon for investors," he said.