Abu Dhabi’s ADX signs partnership with FTSE Russell

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Wednesday announced a full index partnership with FTSE Russell, with the agreement set to make the global index provider the benchmark administrator for domestic equity indexes in Abu Dhabi.

Under the agreement, FTSE Russell will begin providing daily index calculations on the general index, which includes all companies listed on ADX and nine sector specific indexes such as banks, consumer staples, energy, insurance and real estate among others.

“The agreement signed today with FTSE Russell is of special significance for ADX. We are honoured to benefit from FTSE Russell’s reputation and expertise as a leading global index provider to develop our new indexes,” said Khalifa Salem Al Mansouri, chief executive at ADX.

“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,” he added.

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 end of 2019. UAE-listed companies currently account for 0.93 per cent of the FTSE Emerging Index, a widely used global benchmark.

“The agreement demonstrates FTSE Russell’s commitment to working together with market participants across the Middle East region,” said Waqas Samad, group director, Information Services, London Stock Exchange Group and chief executive officer at FTSE Russell.

“We look forward to working closely with ADX and index users to launch a range of new benchmarks in the coming months,” he added.