The memorandum of understanding brings together stock exchanges in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, and part of a Gulf-China trade nexus.

China Universal Asset Management and Milan-listed Azimut Group have agreed to explore setting up exchange-traded fund links between Chinese and international markets.

The firms have signed a memorandum of understanding in Abu Dhabi. The MoU was witnessed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

“This joint effort seeks to improve bilateral financial services, promote high-level financial collaboration, and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative,” the statement from the groups said yesterday.

The organisations want to explore setting up a “China-UAE ETF Link” between the SSE and ADX, also boosting the business of these financial status.

Under the pact, Azimut plans to launch an ETF on ADX that will invest in CUAM’s CSI A500 Index ETF listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Azimut said it aspires to become the first overseas asset manager to invest in the CSI A500 Index through the exchange-traded fund link. 

CUAM intends to launch an ETF on SSE that will invest in Azimut’s exchange-traded fund on the Abu Dhabi exchange, which will track indices related to the S&P Pan Arab region. 

The MoU is putting two asset management big-hitters together: China Universal Asset Management oversees more than RMB 1.1 trillion (about $151 billion) in assets across more than 330 mutual funds. It has subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Shanghai, the US, and Singapore. Azimut Group, founded in 1989, manages more than RMB 850 billion in assets. Since 2011, the group has been actively operating in mainland China.