Investors rank Abu Dhabi Exchange as most undervalued market in GCC

The report draws together the submissions from over 100 international and regional institutional investors.

Commenting on the findings Oliver Schutzmann, Chief Communications Officer of Shuaa Capital and author of the Investor Sentiment Report, commented:

"The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is seen by investors as the most undervalued market in the region (47.7%) ahead of the Saudi Stock Exchange (42.3%) and the Dubai Financial Market (38.7%). Looking ahead six months, 51.4% of investors asked felt that ADX stock prices would rise, a number similar to that recorded for the Doha Stock Market (53.2%) but behind the Saudi market (64%)."

"Overall investors reported finding the GCC markets more attractive (14.4%) than those of the BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China - countries (10.8%) and even the Global Emerging Markets universe (10.8%), of which the GCC is not yet a constituent. Saudi Arabia (52.3%), Qatar (42.3%) and the United Arab Emirates (34.2%) will be the three markets in the GCC that investors will continue to focus on and that have the most upside potential," he added.

The Shuaa GCC Investor Sentiment Report will be a monthly survey which will report on the current and future expectations of the investment community towards the GCC region. Going forward, the firm will publish a "SHUAA GCC Investor Confidence Index" at the end of each month.

Continuing Oliver Schutzmann said, "Shuaa Capital has always played a pivotal role in attracting investors to the GCC region. We launched the report to track the changes in sentiment to the region and the underlying countries of the GCC. We hope the index will play an important role in delivering consistent and detailed data to the investment community when comparing our region to Global Emerging Markets."

This first survey was conducted between 1 and 9 April 2009. Investors were asked questions about current and future economic conditions, stock markets, sectors and commodities.