LONDON and RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) today announced the inclusion of Saudi Stock Exchange in the FTSE EPRA\ Nareit Emerging Index (EPRA: European Public Real-estate Association). The index is specialized in REITs and real-estate companies, similar to other global indices, a group of securities have been chosen to be reviewed and added periodically and announced on the index official website.

The inclusion of Saudi REITs in global real estate indices will raise the level of Saudi REITs and align it with the international best practices, increase level of disclosure and accessibility to the capital market by foreign investors, and broaden the investors base in the Saudi capital market. This inclusion comes as a result of Tadawul's relentless efforts in supporting targeted REITs and other securities to meet the criteria required for the inclusion.

Eng. Khalid Al Hussan, Chief Executive Officer of Tadawul said: "Inclusion in the benchmark FTSE EPRA\ Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series will enhance the visibility of the Saudi REITs market to foreign investors, further broaden the investor base, and increase the level of disclosure." He added: "This inclusion is happening in conjunction with the recent inclusion of the Saudi Stock Exchange in global emerging market indices, that will further support the enhancements in the Saudi capital market, align its regulatory framework with the international best practices, a key goal of the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) Kingdom's Vision 2030."

Mr. Gary Rynhoud, Head of Middle East and Africa, FTSE Russell added: "Following the successful inclusion of Saudi Arabian stocks within FTSE Russell's global equity benchmarks, we are delighted that selected Saudi-based REITS are now included as part of the market-leading, FTSE EPRA\Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series. We continue to see growing demand from international investors to access the Middle East and we look forward to working with them to provide benchmark and analytic solutions that will facilitate their investments into the Region."

Mr. Ali Zaidi, Director Research & Indexes at EPRA commented: "Saudi Arabia is the largest emerging real estate market by value in the EMEA region that is now accessible for global investors through Saudi REITs included in the Index. Gaining exposure to this market is important for global mandates given the forecasted GDP and population growth which are well above the developed markets' average. REITs are unrivaled in terms of bringing transparency and liquidity to commercial real estate in markets across the globe and in addition have outperformed private real estate in Europe. The reclassification of Saudi Arabia as an eligible market for the FTSE EPRA Nareit series not only benefits investors in gaining access to a high potential real estate market, it also enables Saudi REITs to harmonise reporting and ESG standards valued by institutional investors. EPRA welcomes the inclusions and is encouraged for further expansion of the index in EMEA."

Tadawul launched and listed the Kingdom's first REIT in late 2016 and since then the number of listed REITs has grown to 17 with a combined market capitalization of nearly $3.5 billion.

About FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series

The FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series is designed to represent general trends in eligible real estate equities worldwide. Relevant activities are defined as the ownership, disposal and development of income-producing real estate. The index series now covers Global, Developed and Emerging indices, as well the UK's AIM market. The FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Index and FTSE EPRA Nareit Global ex US Index are designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and REITS in both developed and emerging markets. By making the index constituents free-float adjusted, liquidity, size and revenue screened, the series is suitable for use as the basis for investment products, such as derivatives and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

https://research.ftserussell.com/Analytics/FactSheets/temp/5484ce8d-41bd-4b04-9698-01e6252dce77.pdf

About Tadawul

Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) is the sole entity authorized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to act as the kingdom's securities exchange (the Exchange), listing and trading in securities. The Saudi stock market is the 24th largest stock market among the 67 members of the World Federation of Exchanges and is the dominant market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprising 51 percent of total GCC market capitalization and 77 percent of value traded. The Exchange is the 7th largest stock market amongst its emerging market peers. 

For more information see: www.tadawul.com.sa

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