Leading brokerage Naeem Shares & Bonds (NSB) said it has joined Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures platform as a member, in order to connect its UAE, Egyptian and international clients to the fast growing market.
 
As a subsidiary of Naeem Holding, one of the region’s most prominent investment banks, Naeem Shares & Bonds brings in substantial knowhow and market awareness to support futures trading through a wide range of institutional, high net worth and other individual investors, said a top official.

Youssef El Far, the chairman of Naeem Shares & Bonds said: "Many of our clients see Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures as ideal tools for hedging their portfolios, or as an indication on share prices’ direction. We look forward to bringing new clients from the Mena region as well as Europe and the US to trade on the futures market, as part of our expansion plan to develop our brokerage activities."

Naeem Shares & Bonds was established in the UAE in 2005 and has attracted a clientele of leading investors in regional and international securities.

It obtained a licence to offer clients foreign equity markets from the Securities & Commodities Authority in 2014. In Egypt, Naeem Brokerage's ranking climbed to number five after its recent acquisition of AT Brokerage, total combined market share in 2016 stood at 4.9 per cent.

Hamed Ali, the chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said: “As we prepare to further expand our futures platform, the addition of Naeem Shares & Bonds adds significant capacity to the market in geographical reach and investor access. Its arrival as a futures Member of the exchange also further strengthens the close capital market ties that are being developed between Egypt and the UAE.”

A total of 653,471 contracts have traded on Nasdaq Dubai’s equity futures market since it opened on September 1, 2016, with traded value increasing every month.

The market currently consists of single stock futures on contracts on nine leading UAE-listed companies: Emaar Properties, DXB Entertainments, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Aldar Properties, Arabtec Holding, DP World, Dubai Islamic Bank, Etisalat and Union Properties.

The exchange intends to expand the range of contracts offered to include futures on stocks listed on other Mena exchanges, as well as equity index futures and equity options, he stated.

Naeem Shares & Bonds is the seventh brokerage to join the futures market as a member, he added.-TradeArabia News Service