Investors in a New York-listed exchange-traded fund tracking Saudi Arabian stocks withdrew the most money on record, just as MSCI Inc. completed the country’s long-waited upgrade to its widely tracked emerging-markets benchmark.
Read: Middle East Stocks Slide in Sign of Damage to Come From Trade War
Outflows from the iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia soared to $119 million on Aug. 27, the most for any day since its inception in 2015, Bloomberg Data show. It’s the biggest ETF focused on Saudi equities trading in the U.S., with $659 million in assets.
Read: Kuwait Exchange Sees $2.8 Billion of Inflows on MSCI Upgrade
It’s been a good week for those seeking to pare bets on a market that brokers including Morgan Stanley say has become too expensive, given weakening fundamentals. MSCI on Tuesday wrapped up the second phase of including Saudi shares in its developing nations index, prompting billions of dollars in inflows from passive funds.
Read: Shining Star of Middle East Stock Markets Seen Losing Sparkle
Some active managers took advantage of the increased liquidity to reduce their holdings. The main gauge in Riyadh fell 5% this week.
