Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM) has listed Europe’s first ETF to provide equity exposure to Middle Eastern Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia. The ETF has been listed on the Deutsche Börse.

The db x-trackers MSCI GCC Select Index Ucits ETF tracks the equity markets of all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, with a 65% weighting to Saudi Arabia. The other countries in the GCC are Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. 

“The Saudi Arabian stock market has traditionally been difficult for foreign investors to access, so the launch of an index tracker providing exchange-traded exposure to all the GCC countries is a significant step forward,” said Manooj Mistry, Deutsche AWM’s head of exchange-traded products, Emea.

The ETF has an annual all-in fee of 0.65% and tracks the MSCI GCC Countries ex Select Securities Index, which is based on the MSCI GCC Countries Index but with the exclusion of a small number of stocks due to restrictions on foreign ownership. The underlying index is market capitalisation-weighted and currently consists of 82 securities.