The National Investor (TNI), the UAE’s largest investment banking and investment management firm by market value, has signed a license agreement with MSCI Barra, a leading global benchmark authority, to create the MSCI Arabian Markets Real Estate Capped Index. The MSCI Arabian Markets Real Estate Capped Index, is a free float-adjusted, market capitalization index, and contains more than 60 leading real estate securities of the largest and most liquid companies from 11 Arab countries.
The index will be used as a benchmark for the existing TNI MENA Real Estate Active Fund (MENA REAF). The Index will be calculated daily, and will include companies in the following sub-industries according to the Global Industrial Classification Standard:
Construction & Engineering
Homebuilding
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines Thrifts & Mortgage Finance
Diversified Real Estate Activities
The Index will be calculated in US$ and weights of companies in the Index will be capped at 10.0% to reflect MENA REAF investment guidelines.
Walid Hayeck, Director Asset Management at TNI commented: “The real estate sector plays a pivotal role in Arab economies and constitutes one of the major contributors to Arab non-oil GDPs. It is one of the first sectors to benefit from oil cash surpluses and government infrastructure spending. We like to think of it as a market proxy for regional growth and TNI MENA Real Estate Active Fund is an ideal tool for an exposure to this still promising growth story.”
