Middle East’s biggest exchange expects foreign investment to grow, CEO says
Listings on MSCI and FTSE’s indices set to drive interest
Riyadh — Saudi Arabia’s listed companies could see holdings by foreign investors rise to 10% when their shares are included in index providers MSCI and FTSE’s emerging-market indices, the CEO of Tadawul said on Monday. Tadawul is the Middle East’s largest exchange and Saudi Arabia’s main exchange. It has a total market capitalisation of about $541.3bn, with a free float of about 40%. Saudi shares on Monday joined the FTSE Emerging All Cap Index with a weighting of 2.9%. In May, the shares will join the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Khalid al-Hussan said he expected equities on Tadawul to attract $5bn of passive fund inflows after the FTSE Russell inclusion. Foreign investors currently hold 5.9% of Saudi shares. Active foreign investors in the market have been increasing since the beginning of the year, and the number of qualified foreign investors registering to trade on the Saudi exchange is increasing everyday.
Hussan said he estimates the Saudi exchange to see “around $5bn o...
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