Bank of Ireland Securities Services launch of the world’s first Persian Gulf listed ETF.

listed in the Persian Gulf. Working closely with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, BoISS has again demonstrated its leading position as a pioneer in ETF product development.

The NBAD OneShare Dow Jones U.A.E. 25 ETF, which officially launched on 25th March, combines the 25 most traded stocks on the ADX General Index, the DFM General Index and Nasdaq Dubai. The shares must have a daily traded value of $500,000 to be included in the ETF. The ETF has an Irish UCITS III wrapper, with Bank of Ireland as custodian.

An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is an investment product representing a basket of securities that track an index. ETFs, which are available to individual investors only through brokers and advisers, trade like securities on an exchange.

Commenting on the launch, Fearghal Woods Director of Business Development said “As a leading service provider to ETFs, we are delighted to support the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on this ground breaking and exciting initiative. We recognise the importance of developing new markets and breaking down barriers which have prevented investors’ access to new products in these regions.”

The most significant benefits that ETFs offer to investors are that they are low cost, liquid, transparent and offer portfolio diversification.

Alan Durrant Chief Investment Officer at National Bank of Abu Dhabi said that “National Bank of Abu Dhabi is proud to have launched the very first equity ETF to be listed in the Gulf region. We believe that this represents a significant step forward in providing liquid, transparent ways for both local and international investors to access the opportunities that are available in our market. We are very grateful to all of our partners who helped to build this history-making product and would like to thank Bank of Ireland Securities Services for their ongoing support.”

Head of European Business Development at BoISS, Paul Heffernan, noted that “our experience in advising and supporting ETF Issuers is unrivalled in the market. We continue to enhance our service offering to deliver the most efficient and effective product solutions to market for our client base. Our proprietary ETF settlement platform, ETP Direct, was a significant catalyst which enabled us to bring products to this new ETF market. It is also a significant benefit to investors in the ETF who have the ability to hold the shares in their local settlement system irrespective of the exchange the funds are primary listed on. Through our technology and people, we will continue to position our business as a pioneer of ETF product development.”

ETP Direct is a multi-domicile ETF settlement platform for ETF issuers. The product is designed to permit ETFs to settle delivery against payment directly in multiple jurisdictions across the EU, Middle East and Asia. The platform streamlines the trading activities of ETF market makers through reducing costs, minimising risks and improving timeliness of settlement.