The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has successfully participated in the Global Emerging Markets Investor Forum (GEMS), one of the largest emerging markets investment forums organized by the HSBC in London. The DFM and its listed companies achieved one of the strongest presence amongst exchanges attending the event that was concluded last week with the participation of approximately 400 international institutions.

The DFM has been amongst the most represented exchanges in terms of number of participating companies compared to regional emerging markets taking part in the event, as eight DFM-listed companies have jointly attracted one of the highest number of one-on-one meetings with international institutions.

It is noteworthy that the DFM annually organizes international investors roadshows since 2007 in a pioneering step amongst regional markets. The market has associated its roadshow to take place alongside HSBC’s GEMS Forum in order to further diversify the demand from institutions mandated to invest in international emerging markets.

DFM-listed companies that have attended the event included: Emaar Properties, Emaar Malls, Emaar Development, Aramex, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, Damac Properties and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) Company. As much as 124 one-on-one meetings have been held between senior representatives of the listed companies and 47 international institutions with US$ 2.6 trillion of assets under management.

His Excellency Essa Kazim, Chairman of DFM said, “We are delighted with the outstanding success of the event that underlines investors’ confidence in the business environment in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates as well as DFM’s mounting ability to reinforce and sustain growth and attract new institutions due to the quality and diversity of its investment opportunities supported by the sound fundamentals of the national economy. The Roadshow has delivered a strong message on international institutions’ robust appetite towards DFM-listed companies and we are confident that this demand will boost the market activity in the coming period.”

It is noteworthy that foreign investors are sustaining their strong presence on DFM as they accounted for 50% of the trading activity during the first half of this year. Their ownership of the DFM Market Capitalization recorded a cumulative annual growth of 6% since 2010 reaching 18%. Institutional investors accounted for 52% of the trading value and their ownership reached 84% of the Market Capitalization. Moreover, foreign investors have injected AED 1.8 billion as net purchases of DFM-listed securities year to date. The DFM has a large investor base exceeding 844 thousand investors, one third of them are foreigners and the market also has 11 thousand registered institutions.

“The DFM has amassed notable experiences and capabilities in terms of supporting its listed companies to strengthen links with the global investment community. This has been achieved through its flagship investor roadshows constantly organized in London and New York since 2007 as well as other numerous activities that have massively augmented issuers’ relationship with investors,” Fahima Al Bastaki, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Development Division said.

“The Middle East is home to the world’s most ambitious economic transformation agendas and Dubai Financial Market’s participation at the annual HSBC Global Emerging Markets Investor Forum highlights the role of the UAE as a gateway for global investors to access the full spectrum of opportunities,” said Abdulfattah Sharaf, Chief Executive Officer UAE and Head of International, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Emirates NBD said: ‘Emirates NBD is pleased to participate in this DFM Roadshow as it provides an excellent opportunity to update international investors on developments within the Group and to discuss the Bank’s performance and outlook. The Roadshow is timely, following the earlier announcement of an increase in Emirates NBD’s foreign ownership limit.  We have seen strong demand for meetings during the Roadshow from international investors and this coincides with increased trading volumes in Emirates NBD’s shares this week.’

“Whilst global growth seems muted, GCC fiscal expansion continues with expected increase of over 5% in 2019”, said Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank. “As investors target the region, engagement is key and such events arranged by Dubai Financial Market are critical to attract FDIs, which have already seen a jump of over 50% in Dubai in Q1 2019 YOY”.

Amit Jain, Group Chief Executive Officer of Emaar Properties PJSC said: “With significant international investor interest in Emaar’s developments in Dubai and our strong financial fundamentals, the DFM Roadshow offers a strong platform to highlight our strengths to the global investor community.  At the roadshow, we featured our premium real estate portfolio, our success in diversification, and our track-record in long-term value creation.”