JEDDAH: Russell Investments and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) - which accounts for half of the entire equity market capitalization and nearly three-quarters of the entire equity value traded of all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock exchanges - have signed an agreement under which Russell becomes authorized by Tadawul to offer Russell Indexes on the Saudi market, Russel said in a statement Thursday. Under the agreement, Russell is authorized to use real-time Tadawul prices and other data to create Russell Indexes that measure the performance of the Saudi stock market as well as regional GCC Russell Indexes. These Russell Indexes also may serve as the basis for third-party investment products such as mutual funds, ETFs and other financial products that enable investors to participate in the performance of the Saudi stock market. Tadawul CEO Abdullah Suweilmy said “Tadawul is pleased to welcome Russell Indexes to the growing list of authorized index providers operating in Saudi Arabia. With its expertise and international reach, asset managers from Saudi Arabia and around the world can now use the services of Russell Indexes. We are also delighted that Russell Indexes and Tadawul have agreed to jointly investigate other ways in which we can work together in the future.” Ron Bundy, CEO for Russell Indexes, said “through this agreement with Tadawul we will deliver truly reflective, objective investment tools that cover the Saudi equity market.”
