Chimera Capital: Nascent Gulf ETF Market Gets First Fund Tracking #Kuwait Stocks - Bloomberg

Chimera Capital: Nascent Gulf ETF Market Gets First Fund Tracking Kuwait Stocks - Bloomberg

Chimera Capital LLC is launching an exchange-traded fund that will allow Abu Dhabi-based investors to track Kuwaiti stocks, a month after it started a similar product focused on Saudi Arabia.

The Chimera S&P Kuwait Shariah ETF starts trading in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. It tracks the S&P Kuwait Shariah Liquid 35/20 Capped Index, which is up 36% over the past year.

“The Kuwaiti market is one of the biggest and most liquid markets in the MENA region,” Sherif Salem, Chimera Capital’s chief investment officer of public markets said in written comments to Bloomberg. The product is “the first ETF that gives access to the Kuwait market from another Arab exchange.”

Kuwait’s benchmark Premier Index is up 8.4% this year, making it the tenth-best performing gauge globally in U.S. dollar terms. Middle Eastern markets are outperforming other regions in 2022 amid elevated energy prices.

Chimera Capital last month listed its S&P KSA Shariah exchange-traded fund in Abu Dhabi, allowing traders there to track Saudi stocks via a local bourse -- a first for the fledgling ETF market in the Gulf.