The Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE) has partnered with S&P Indices to launch S&P AFE 40 index in a special announcement by Robert Shakotko, Standard and Poor’s managing director, during the Arab Federation of Exchanges Annual Conference 2011. The two-day conference, now on its third year, is being held for the first time in the UAE.
S&P AFE 40 is the result of the unique collaboration between the two entities giving regional and international credibility and exposure. It is designed to measure and evaluate the performance of the 40 most powerful companies in the Pan-Arab region. It will provide a better gauge and predict economic trends in the region, and in relation to the global market.
Dr Fadi Khalaf, Secretary General at the Arab Federation of Exchanges, expressed his excitement: “S&P Indices is one of the leading index providers in the world, and we are pleased to partner with them. We expect S&P AFE 40 to be a blue chip index in the Pan-Arab region-one that will genuinely represent the performance of leading, publicly-traded companies trading on Arabian exchanges. It is a vital and timely response to investors seeking to measure this important, growing segment of the market.”
Believing that the region is in “a new era of investment opportunities”, Robert Shakotko, Managing Director at S&P Indices, commented that there is a growing interest among investors in Arab equities as the market begins to mature. Shakotko attributes this to recent phenomenal events such as the Arab Spring and the liberalisation of Arab countries.
