• Noticeable demand from international institutions to strengthen their presence in Dubai capital markets

Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) International Investor Roadshow 2023 in New York has successfully attracted numerous leading global investment institutions. The event conveyed a strong message on the profound confidence of US-based investment international institutions towards Dubai capital markets. The investors have expressed their keenness to be present in the DFM platform.

The Roadshow was organized in collaboration with Bank of America on 12th and 13th January 2023, with the participation of 3 newly listed companies on Dubai capital markets namely; Salik, Empower and DEWA. This is in addition to Emaar Properties, Emirates NBD, Amanat, Emaar Development, Dubai Financial Market Company, DP World and Aramex.

The event included 82 one-on-one meetings with senior representatives of 35 international funds managing more than US$ 1 trillion of assets.

Commenting on the success of the Roadshow, Hamed Ali, CEO of DFM and Nasdaq Dubai, said: “DFM is more globalized than ever, with international investors actively participating in our capital market, maintaining nearly 49% trading activity during 2022 and 19% ownership. The Dubai market is showing increasing demand for subscriptions, with recent success stories across our new listings including: DEWA, Tecom, Salik, Empower and Taaleem. The appetite of international investors continues to increase.”

“The roadshow’s success, as shown by the number of institutions and meetings attended,demonstrates strong demand as Dubai works to implement its plan to develop financial markets and increase trading activity and investment from both local and international investors.”

Particpants praise Roadshow’s outcome

Participating companies have praised the Roadshow as a unique opportunity to share their business developments and growth strategies with wide-ranging equity and fixed-income international investment institutions.

DEWA

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD&CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), said “We were pleased of DEWA’s participation in the Dubai Financial Markets sponsored Interntaional Investor Roadshow in New York. We explained to investors that DEWA is making excellent progress in achieving our strategy, which is focused on delivering sustainable growth while minimising our environmental footprint and ensuring consistency of returns for our investors. We emphasise that DEWA is on track to announce the best full year financial performance in our operating history. We firmly believe that Dubai and its Financial Markets are the ideal destination for investment in all sectors.”

Emirates NBD

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Emirates NBD said: “Emirates NBD is delighted to participate in the series of DFM International Investor Roadshows as they provide an excellent opportunity to meet investors in person and update them on the Group’s performance and outlook. The DFM International Investor Roadshows are well established amongst the global investor community as a regular and efficient opportunity to meet with companies listed in Dubai.”

Salik

During his participation in the conference, Ibrahim Al-Haddad, CEO of Salik, confirmed this, and said, "This event is an important platform that brings together international investors, through which we are observing increasing confidence and a strong demand to join the Dubai Financial Market, which is experiencing rapid growth." This is evidenced by the high demand for "Salik" shares, which confirms the confidence of investors in the Dubai Capital Markets and the strength and durability of the company, as well as the company's effective regulatory framework and robust business model, which will allow it to remain at the centre of expansion plans for the roads and transportation sector, thereby contributing to economic growth for the Emirate.”

Bank of America

Arshad Ghafur, President MENA, Bank of America, said: “2022 was a transformational year for the Dubai Financial Market, with a number of IPOs that have refocused investor attention on the Dubai value proposition. The transactions, which included one of the largest IPOs of the year, were heavily oversubscribed and reflected strong investor demand for the UAE. The continued focus from both global and regional investors is indicative of the UAE’s appeal and resilience where other markets around the world have proven challenging to navigate. Bank of America has had the privilege of working on a number of IPOs in the UAE, and will continue to direct investor attention to the DFM platform for compelling opportunities across sectors.”

-Ends-

About Dubai Financial Market:

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) was established as a public institution with its own independent corporate body. DFM operates as a secondary market for the trading of securities issued by public shareholding companies, bonds issued by the Federal Government or any of the local Governments and public institutions in the country, units of investment funds and any other financial instruments, local or foreign, which are accepted by the market. The DFM commenced operations on March 26, 2000 and became the first Islamic Shari’a-compliant exchange globally since 2007. Following its initial public offering in November 2006, when DFM offered 1.6 billion shares, representing 20 per cent of its paid-up capital of AED 8 Billion, DFM became a public joint stock company and its shares were listed on 7 March 2007 with the trading symbol (DFM). Following the IPO, the Government of Dubai retained the remaining 80 per cent of DFM Company through Borse Dubai Limited. www.dfm.ae

For further information, please contact:
Atef Fathy
Vice President – Head of Media & Public Relations
Dubai Financial Market
Email: afathy@dfm.ae