Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and FTSE Russell unveil Growth Market Index

The new benchmark allows investors to 'mimic' the performance of a range of emerging and fast-growing companies

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is the second-largest bourse in the region by market value. Photo: ADX

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Arab world's second-largest bourse by market value, and FTSE Russell have developed a new benchmark to track the performance of the ADX’s Growth Market segment.

The FTSE ADX Growth Market Index (FADGMI) that went live on Thursday includes the eligible constituents of the recently rebranded Growth Market.

It will allow investors to “mimic” the performance of the platform that consists of a range of emerging and fast-growing companies, the ADX said on Thursday.

The launch of the FADGMI is part of the ADX’s tie-up with FTSE Russell. The new index comes on the heels of the FTSE ADX 15 Index (FADX15), a blue-chip benchmark of the 15 largest and the most liquid stocks on the bourse, which was unveiled in March.

More co-branded indexes are expected to be launched under the partnership in the coming months, the ADX said.

The ADX Growth Market is an emerging equity segment on the Abu Dhabi bourse that connects investors and private businesses in sectors, ranging from sports to transport, wholesale trading and health care.

“The introduction of the FADGMI demonstrates our commitment to providing market participants with new benchmarks that meet world-class standards, particularly with the exchange’s rapidly growing international investor base,” said Saeed Al Dhaheri, managing director and chief executive of the ADX.

The new index will allow investors to track opportunities and make “insightful investment decisions to better manage their investment portfolios”, he said.

The tie-up of the ADX and FTSE Russell — London Stock Exchange's wholly-owned global provider of benchmarks, analytics and data solutions — is part the ADX's push to broaden its product offerings, which include the derivatives market with single stock futures unveiled in the fourth quarter of 2021 and FADX15 index futures launched in June this year.

The collaboration of the ADX and FTSE Russell is also an important component of “increasing liquidity and supporting the exchange's market capitalisation growth” strategy, Mr Al Dhaheri said.

The Abu Dhabi bourse is the first exchange in the region to use FTSE Russell as its index administrator and is part of a strategy launched last year to attract more foreign investors.

In January, the FTSE ADX General Index replaced the ADX General Index, and the FTSE ADX sector indexes took the place of the sector indexes that existed at the time.