Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed on Tuesday said a new stock market for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Nasdaq Dubai Growth Market, is being rolled out. Trading is expected to begin early next year following the listing of the first company's shares on the new bourse. Although the UAE already has three stock exchanges – the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai – this will be its first junior market geared towards smaller companies.
What are junior markets?
Junior markets are exchanges that typically make it easier for smaller (and younger) companies to list. Dozens of exchanges around the world have junior markets including bourses in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul Exchange launched its parallel market for smaller shares, Nomu, in 2017.
Why would SMEs want to list on a junior market?
One of the biggest challenges for smaller companies, especially those growing quickly, is access to capital. They can seek funding from venture capitalists, but those holding the cheque books often get to dictate terms, including the size of stake SME owners have to give up in return for cash. The growth market is aimed at offering a relatively cheap and easy way to tap investors for capital, but companies in return have to open their books and accept greater scrutiny.
Why would they want to list in Dubai?
The new exchange is part of the Dubai Future District initiative first announced in January under which the government is rolling out a range of incentives to attract new economy companies. These included a Dh1 billion ($272.48 million) new economy fund, legislative licences to use technologies such as autonomous cars, drones and AI, five-year residency visas and reduced housing prices allowing entrepreneurs to rent homes in the district for less than Dh3,000 per month. Then there is the availability of capital. Dubai "is the financial hub of the region", Ali El Adou, head of asset management of Daman Investments, said.
Who can list on the new exchange?
The market is open to companies with a value of less than $250m. They need to provide at least one year's accounts prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards. They can sell as little as 25 per cent of their shares but need to agree to hold on to any shares not floated for at least 12 months and cannot buy back shares for two years. SMEs will also need to hire (and retain) a compliance adviser for a listing and pay a $10,000 fee to the exchange to file a prospectus, as well as a $10,000 annual fee. A company is no longer considered to be an SME if its market value remains above $500m for 90 days.
Is investing in small companies a good idea?
It depends on the circumstances. Investing in smaller companies is much riskier than buying shares in big businesses, especially if an investor buy shares in just one (or a handful) of companies. And trading in small-cap shares can be illiquid, making them more difficult (and expensive) to sell.
However, research by US economists Eugene Fama and Kenneth French show that over time, smaller companies tend to outperform larger ones. Although the huge leaps in valuations made by technology giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and others means this hasn't been the case over the past decade, over 20 and 50-year periods smaller companies provide better returns.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
