Dubai Financial Market Welcomes New ETF

Abu-Dhabi-based asset management firm Chimera Capital LLC, a subsidiary of Chimera Investments LLC, this week launched its Umbrella Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) – Chimera S&P UAE Shariah ETF- Share Class B – Income, on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM).

Class B units have been listed on the DFM under CHAESHIN, its official trading symbol. The fund, according to the DFM, replicates the S&P UAE Domestic Shariah Liquid 35/20 Capped Index, including the UAE’s largest stocks by market capitalization.

The fund’s Class B “distributes to investors any collected dividends from investments in companies included in the S&P UAE Shariah Index, which tracks the performance of UAE liquid equities, enabling investors to unlock opportunities of a new and promising asset class in the UAE financial markets,” the DFM said in a published statement.

“We are delighted to welcome this significant step with the listing of Chimera Capital’s ETF, in line with DFM’s strategy to diversify asset classes providing investors with a new financial instrument to invest in leading companies in the UAE,” Hassan Al Serkal, CEO of the DFM said.”The diversification of our product offering, including the rapidly growing global ETF sector, is one of the key pillars of DFM’s strategy.”

The DFM notes the ETF sector continues to expand its global presence,  with assets worldwide growing from $204 billion in 2003 to roughly $6.18 trillion in 2019.

The Index is structured and built by S&P and monitored by a Shariah Board that meets regularly to review and rebalance the index quarterly to guarantee that the securities in the index are both liquid and Shariah-compliant. The index currently has ten securities across the UAE markets, allowing investors “a single access point to a balanced portfolio of Shariah-compliant liquid UAE securities as per S&P Shariah Board guidelines”.