Alternate Traded Funds (ETFs) are now not a distinct segment product reserved for stylish buyers. Globally and regionally, ETFs are one of the vital highly effective instruments reshaping how people and establishments entry markets, handle prices and diversify portfolios.
Based on Hichem Djouhri, Senior Govt Officer of ASB Capital, the surge in ETF adoption is rooted in a single easy concept: effectivity.
“What ETFs supply is environment friendly entry to a variety of asset courses, combining value effectivity and execution pace to permit folks to specific their funding views on any underlying asset class,” he stated in an interview with Arabian Enterprise.
From energetic to passive
Globally, ETFs have gained momentum amid the long-standing debate round energetic versus passive investing. “Are you able to beat the market? That’s a query folks ask on a regular basis,” stated Djouhri. “ETFs say you don’t have to beat the market – you simply get the market efficiency with out having to pay extreme charges.”
This scale of this shift has been important. “There’s now extra capital in ETFs than there’s in actively managed funds, and I don’t assume that’s a pattern that’s going to reverse,” he added.
What makes in the present day’s ETF panorama much more compelling is how far it has developed from its early, purely passive roots. “You now have semi-active ETFs, good beta ETFs, and even ETFs on non-public markets – which was unheard of some years in the past,” Djouhri stated. “The demand may be very a lot there, and the rollout of recent modern merchandise continues.”
Demystifying ETFs for buyers
Regardless of the speedy development of ETFs, misconceptions stay – significantly amongst newer buyers. “Typically we overlook to ask the very fundamental query: what’s an ETF?” Djouhri stated.
At its core, he defined, an ETF is an alternate traded fund. “The important thing phrase is ‘Alternate traded’ – it’s listed on a inventory market and shopping for it’s precisely like shopping for a inventory equivalent to Microsoft or Apple. And ‘fund’ means a field containing a group of securities that many buyers can take part in.”
That construction unlocks flexibility. “With ETFs you should buy and promote all through the day every time the inventory market is open,” stated Djouhri, contrasting them with conventional funds that usually restrict entry and exit.
The rise of thematics and moral investing
Thematic ETFs, spanning AI, renewables, healthcare and commodities – are proving particularly engaging. And within the Center East, one other convergence is gaining momentum.
“There’s sturdy demand for moral investing, which has numerous commonality with Shari’a-compliant ideas, significantly on social and basic concerns,” stated Djouhri. “Demand for moral merchandise is rising tremendously throughout just about all asset courses.”
He pointed to improvements equivalent to inexperienced Sukuk for example of this demand, enabling buyers throughout geographies to entry related exposures via language and constructions that resonate regionally.
Certainly one of ASB Capital’s most up-to-date launches highlights how ETFs are decreasing long-standing boundaries. “Traditionally, Sukuk have been reserved for establishments or high-net-worth people as a result of shopping for a single Sukuk required a minimal of USD 200,000,” Djouhri stated.
ASB Capital’s sukuk ETF, XASB, listed on the London Inventory Alternate in November 2025, modifications that equation utterly. “Our ETF has 200 underlying Sukuk, and buyers can purchase it for round USD 27. You get all of the financial advantages and publicity with out the door being closed due to minimums.”
That accessibility, he added, makes ETFs appropriate not simply as funding automobiles but additionally as financial savings instruments.
Bridging regional and international markets
On the equities facet, ASB Capital is making ready to launch a brand new ETF product geared toward simplifying regional publicity. “As a Center East-based investor, it’s not so easy to purchase regional equities immediately,” Djouhri stated. “We’re going to vary that with our subsequent launch, coming very quickly.”
This philosophy displays the agency’s broader mission. “ASB Capital was constructed to make investments smarter, easier and extra accessible, to be a bridge between buyers in numerous geographies and alternatives each regionally and globally,” he stated.
Issues that ETFs amplify market volatility floor often, however Djouhri is unconvinced by this argument. “ETFs don’t inherently create extra volatility. They’re meant to provide the efficiency of the market – if there’s volatility out there, you’ll see it within the ETF.”
Other than remoted instances, he famous, ETFs have weathered a number of market cycles. “They’ve been round via the monetary disaster and past and so they’re a really efficient software.”
What to look at for
Personal market ETFs stand out as a serious development space. “It’s even more durable for the typical investor to enter non-public markets than public ones the place minimums are very excessive, lock-ins may be seven to 10 years, and liquidity is restricted,” stated Djouhri. “ETFs are an ideal resolution, and we’ll proceed to see extra innovation there.”
For buyers contemplating ETFs, Djouhri presents three sensible factors. “Look intently at charges – many ETFs supply related publicity however are priced in another way,” he stated. “Additionally have a look at liquidity as one other key issue, and eventually, examine the ETF’s efficiency to what it’s meant to duplicate. It needs to be very shut – if it’s not, it’s possible you’ll wish to contemplate an alternate.”
As ETFs proceed to evolve, their attraction within the area is changing into more and more clear, providing broader entry, decrease prices, and smarter methods to take a position confidently throughout borders and asset courses.
