RIYADH: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange has recorded a 364 percent surge in the value and volume of trading in exchange-traded funds since the start of 2023, compared to the same period last year.
According to data from the state news agency WAM, ETF trading on the ADX reached 4.50 billion dirhams ($1.23 billion) by Oct. 11, making it the most active and liquid ETF market in the Middle East and North Africa region.
During this period, the volume of ETF trading on ADX rose to 815.7 million units, up from 161.2 million units in 2022.
The number of such transactions on the exchange also increased by 284.2 percent to reach 30,800 since the beginning of this year, compared to 8,025 in the previous year.
ETFs are investment funds that trade on exchanges and track specific indices. In such schemes, investors receive a bundle of assets that can be bought and sold during market hours, reducing risk and exposure.
This surge in ETF trading is attributed to ADX’s infrastructure and its strategy of innovation and expanding investment options and solutions, following the launch of the exchange’s new identity for the ETF market in November 2022.
Under this new brand identity, the ETF platform aims to provide investors with improved liquidity and enhance the exchange’s ability to offer diverse tools and trading strategies.
“Our ability to innovate and introduce an increasingly diversified set of investment opportunities continues to set us apart as a leading regional exchange,” said ADX Managing Director and CEO Saeed Hamad Al-Dhaheri after the launch of the new platform in November 2022.
In June, ADX listed the Chimera – Standard & Poor’s China Hong Kong Shariah ETF, which tracks Shariah-compliant Chinese stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Additionally, in August, ADX listed an exchange-traded index fund that tracks Shariah-compliant stocks on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
