The Bank of Palestine hopes to launch a Palestinian equity fund next year to follow index maker FTSE Russell’s decision to grant Palestine frontier market status.
The Palestine Stock Exchange, based in Nablus in the West Bank, lists 49 stocks and has proved relatively stable in recent years, though some investors warn that liquidity on the exchange is low.
“We’re looking to set up an equity fund focusing on Palestine, some time next year perhaps,” the bank’s chairman, Hashim Shawa, tells Funds Global MENA.
Shawa, who is interviewed in the forthcoming issue of the magazine, says the bank also plans to open a representative office in Santiago, Chile. It will be the bank’s second overseas operation following the establishment of an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre this year.
In September, FTSE Russell said it would designate Palestine as a frontier market for the first time. Previously, Palestine had been unclassified by the index maker.
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