Monthly Funds Review. Middle East Funds Industry round up...

WORRIES MOUNT AS TADAWUL-MSCI DISPUTE CONTINUES

Fund managers are scratching their heads after Tadawul, the Saudi stock exchange, and MSCI, the index provider, have been unable to meet on licensing agreements, which could lead to the index company dropping Saudi stocks from its indices.

Many regional asset managers benchmark their funds against the regional MSCI indices, which bundle stock data from various markets for investors and fund managers to measure against their performance. Indices that may be affected are the popular MSCI Arabian Markets and MSCI GCC Countries Indices - both include Saudi stocks.

The bone of contention is Tadawul's stipulation in a new agreement that gives it the right to prohibit MSCI from licensing certain indices to third parties.