HANetf is set to close its Kuwait ETF after the strategy failed to gather significant assets.
The KMEFIC FTSE Kuwait Equity UCITS ETF (KUW8) was launched in April 2019 via the firm’s white-label platform in partnership with the Kuwait & Middle East Financial Investment Company (KMEFIC).
KUW8’s last day of trading on European stock exchanges will be 25 January with the ETF officially terminating on 8 February.
In a note to shareholders, HANetf said: “The board has considered the viability of the fund and, taking into account the current levels of assets under management (AUM) and the best interests of the shareholders, has decided that it is impracticable and inadvisable for the fund to continue to operate.”
ETFs in Europe closing at record pace as issuers struggle to attract assets to new products
KUW8 was the first ETF in Europe to offer investors exposure to the Kuwait market. It tracked the FTSE Kuwait All-Cap 15% Capped index which currently holds 17 stocks, as at 31 December 2020.
Invesco is now the only ETF issuer in Europe to offer a Kuwait ETF in its range through the $51m Invesco MSCI Kuwait UCITS ETF (MKUW) which launched in October 2019.
The closure leaves HANetf with 11 ETFs on its white-label platform including the BTCE Bitcoin Exchange Traded Cryptocurrency (BTCE) which hit $500m AUM this week following the dramatic rise of bitcoin over the past year.
Along with the milestone, BTCE has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in US dollars, Swiss francs and sterling.
