Foreign money strains at leash ahead of 'inevitable' Saudi MSCI listing - The National

Foreign money strains at leash ahead of 'inevitable' Saudi MSCI listing - The National:

"HSBC, which has the biggest investment bank in Saudi Arabia, says foreign investors are getting ready for their first significant stock purchases in the kingdom as an upgrade to emerging-market status looks likely. It’s “inevitable” that MSCI, whose classifications can influence billions of dollars of asset allocations, will add Saudi Arabia to its emerging-market benchmarks, said Majed Najm, the chief executiveof the British lender’s Saudi unit. In June, MSCI put Saudi Arabia, which currently stands alone from broader groupings, on the watchlist for a potential upgrade in 2018. Another index provider, FTSE Russell, last month said the kingdom would soon meet the criteria to be promoted from its current unclassified status to a secondary emerging market, but refrained from doing so for now."



'via Blog this'