As part of an ongoing approach to attract wider global investor interest to its market, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has revealed that its international investors roadshow in New York last week saw a sizable participation from international institutions.
The stock exchange says the event enabled listed companies to hold 81 one-on-one meetings with senior representatives of 35 international institutions managing approximately $3.2 tn in assets.
Nine DFM and Nasdaq Dubai listed companies took part in the event: real estate company Emaar Properties, mall developer Emaar Malls, Emaar Development – the build-to-sell property development business of Emaar Properties – international courier company Aramex, Dubai-based property developer DAMAC Properties, sharia finance group Dubai Islamic Bank, leading regional bank Emirates NBD, Dubai port operator DP World and DFM Company, the DFM’s holding company.
The roadshow attracted 21 new institutions taking part for the first time, and the number of meetings for each participating company significantly increased, reaching 19 meetings for some issuers.
Essa Kazim, chairman of the DFM, says: ‘The roadshow’s ability to attract new institutions as well as the significant increase in the number of meetings for participating companies underline [the] institutions’ confidence in DFM’s lucrative and diversified opportunities and its status as the preferred gateway to the rapidly growing economies in the UAE and the region. The DFM has diversified listed securities for leading companies in the UAE as well as dual-listed companies from other countries in the region.’
During the roadshow, the DFM was keen to promote that it maintains a strong presence of foreign and institutional investments with more than 11,000 institutions registered on the market, including 64 new institutions during the first quarter of 2019.
Foreign investors are indeed maintaining their presence, with 53.3 percent of trading and stock purchases of AED680 mn ($185 mn) during the first quarter of 2019.
Abdulfattah Sharaf, UAE CEO of HSBC Bank Middle East, adds: ‘After a strong start to 2019, emerging markets are firmly in focus at the moment and markets such as the UAE stand out for their ease of access, range of trading products and robust regulatory regime.
‘As the only international bank with a DFM license and a proud partner of its roadshow for many years, we were delighted the response to this year’s event was one of the best yet.’
