KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday held a gong ceremony to formally mark the listing of the Mahaana Islamic Index Exchange Traded Fund (MIIETF) managed by Mahaana Wealth Limited (MWL).
Akif Saeed, Chairman SECP, and Henrik Persson, Ambassador of Sweden to Pakistan attended the ceremony as Chief Guests. The gong was struck by the Chief Guests amidst the presence of Muhammad Shamoon Tariq CFA, Co-Founder and CEO Mahaana Wealth Limited; Farrukh H. Khan, MD and CEO Pakistan Stock Exchange and senior management of SECP, PSX and MWL.
MIIETF was listed on the Exchange with effect from March 11, 2024. The ETF aims to track the performance of Mahaana Islamic Index (MII30) whereby the Index is periodically rebalanced and reconstituted in order to provide long term appreciation and dividend yield to investors.
The Index is designed to measure the performance of top 30 Shariah compliant companies selected from KMI All share index constituents based on the free float market capitalization, having at least average daily value traded of Rs 10 million in last 12 months.
This is the second Islamic Equity ETF which will give Shariah conscious investors ability to invest in top 30 most liquid Shariah complaint companies through this ETF. JS Global Capital has been appointed the Authorised Participant and Market Maker of the ETF.
Farrukh H. Khan, MD and CEO PSX welcomed all the guests to Pakistan Stock Exchange at the gong ceremony to formally mark the listing of the Mahaana Islamic Index ETF. He commended Mahaana Wealth Limited for spearheading this initiative and for their commitment to leveraging technology to democratise access to investment opportunities.
As the first licensed digital investment advisor in Pakistan, Mahaana Wealth’s pioneering efforts are helping to reshape the investment landscape and contribute to the development of the digital economy.
He said this initiative actually meets three key strategic objectives of PSX to develop the capital markets. Firstly, to bring new products for investors; secondly, to use technology to make it easy for investors to access the capital markets, an area PSX is fully focused on; and, thirdly, to develop Islamic capital markets. So this really hits the sweet spot and I am sure this will be a very successful product.
He acknowledged the support of the SECP and congratulated Mahaana Wealth Limited, JS Global Capital as well as the teams at PSX for yet another innovative investment instrument made available for investors.
Muhammad Shamoon Tariq CFA, Co-Founder and CEO Mahaana Wealth Limited, in his speech said Mahaana Wealth was created with a vision to bring Pakistan’s financial market at par with the global markets, given Pakistan’s low financial penetration stemming from lack of appropriate regulations and outdated technological infrastructure.
He said after close collaboration with SECP, PSX, CDC and brokerage industry, Mahaana wealth assisted the regulator to update regulations and now provides seamless account opening of mutual funds, stock market and retirement accounts by retail investors.
“We are now working on introducing retail based investment products and Mahaana Islamic Index ETF is our first equity product for retail investors to take exposure to the market through a diversified Shariah compliant index tracker. We aim to work closely with brokers to distribute the ETF and jointly launch investor education drives. I am grateful to the SECP and PSX for all their support in our journey”, he added.
Chief Guest at the occasion, Akif Saeed, Chairman SECP, termed the launch a significant step forward in the development of the Islamic financial market in the country, and Mahaana marks the first of the new breed of AMCs, graduating from the SECP’s Regulatory Sandbox.
As guardians of financial integrity and stability, Akif Saeed said, it is our duty to foster an environment conducive for the growth of capital markets while providing investors with opportunities that align with their investment goals.
Chief Guest, Henrik Persson, Ambassador of Sweden to Pakistan said Sweden and Pakistan are enjoying very good bilateral relations. And there is a strong presence of Swedish companies in Pakistan.
He said the potential is high for more economic partnerships between the Swedish and the Pakistani business community in many areas, including greentech, IT and digitalisation as well as in textiles.
“Today’s event with celebration of Mahaana, a company with roots in Sweden, entering the Pakistani Stock Exchange marks an exciting milestone in our economic relations”, he added.
The gong ceremony was followed by distribution of mementos to Akif Saeed, Chairman SECP; Henrik Persson, Swedish Ambassador to Pakistan, and Farrukh H. Khan, MD and CEO PSX.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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