BlackRock’s (NYSE: BLK) iShares unit, the world’s largest issuer of exchange traded funds, today launched the the iShares MSCI Qatar Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: QAT) and the iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: UAE), the first single-country funds devoted to those fast-growing Middle East equity markets.
The launch of iShares MSCI Qatar Capped and the iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF comes just days ahead of the scheduled promotion of those countries from frontier to emerging markets status. Qatar and UAE, both OPEC members, are the first Middle East countries to move from a frontier markets index to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The two countries currently combine for over 36% of the iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF’s (NYSEArca: FM) weight. [Departures Could Help Frontier ETF]
QAT holds 25 stocks and charges 0.61% per year. Financial services stocks account for 43% of the new ETF’s sector weight while telecom and industrial names combine for another 26.2%, according to iShares data.
UAE also holds 25 stocks with a 0.61% annual expense ratio. The first UAE-specific ETF allocates nearly 43% of its weight to the financial services sector with another 14.1% going to industrials.