CMA Approves Al Rajhi MSCI Saudi Dividend ETF Offering

The Capital Market Authority approved Al Rajhi Capital's request to offer units of the Al Rajhi MSCI Saudi Equity Dividends ETF, the regulator said Thursday. The ETF tracks the MSCI Saudi Arabia IMI Select Dividend Index, a basket of high-dividend-yield stocks on the Saudi Exchange.

The approval gives retail and institutional investors a passive way to access Saudi dividend payers without picking individual stocks. For Al Rajhi Capital, the listing adds a product to its ETF lineup, competing with existing dividend funds offered by other local asset managers.

The underlying index is constructed by MSCI Inc., which holds an AlphaScala Score of 46 out of 100, labeled Mixed in the Financial Services sector. The score reflects average momentum and valuation readings for the index provider's stock. MSCI stock page

The ETF will list on Tadawul in the coming weeks. The CMA did not specify a date or disclose the fund's expense ratio or target dividend yield. Those details are expected in the fund's prospectus ahead of the listing.

The approval is the latest in a series of ETF listings this year, part of Saudi Arabia's push to deepen its capital markets and offer more Sharia-compliant income products to local investors.