The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), which trades shares of UAE companies, has partnered with global index provider FTSE Russell in London.

Under the new partnership, FTSE Russell will become the benchmark administrator for tailored domestic equity indexes of the stock exchange.

The new arrangement means that the ADX indexes will transition to FTSE Russell’s rule-based index methodology and the index names will be co-branded.

“The Middle East is a real focus area for us since I took over running the company in the beginning of last year. We’ve been thinking about getting deeper into Middle Eastern markets. We have done a lot in Saudi Arabia,” Waqas Samad, CEO of FTSE Russell told Zawya at the sidelines of a media briefing in Abu Dhabi.

“We think that there are opportunities here in Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general to develop our business further , and so this is a really exciting way for us to make further progress in that aspect. Our partnership with ADX seems like the right approach for us,” he added.

FTSE Russell will also provide daily index calculations on the general index, which includes all listed companies on the ADX and nine sector-specific indexes. New Shariah- compliant and sustainable finance indexes will be introduced as well.

“Our partnership with leading global index provider FTSE Russell is set to raise the profile of ADX, boost liquidity, and widen investors’ base,” Khalifa Al Mansouri, Chief Executive of ADX told reporters.

 The UAE is classified as a secondary emerging market within FTSE Russell’s Global Equity Index Series (GEIS).

ADX’s indexes cover more than 66 listed companies with a total market capitalisation of nearly $145 billion by end of last year.

(Writing by Nada Al Rifai nada.Rifai@refinitiv.com ; editing by Cleofe Maceda)

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