Wio and ADX Expand Digital Wealth Tools for UAE Investors

Wio Bank and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange have launched a new digital financing product that allows investors to borrow against eligible ADX-listed stocks and ETFs without selling them.

The service, called Loan Against Investments, allows Wio customers to pledge eligible listed securities as collateral and access cash directly through the Wio Personal app. The idea is simple: investors can unlock liquidity from their portfolios while remaining invested in the market.

That matters because selling shares or ETF units to meet short-term cash needs can carry a real cost. Investors may give up future upside, miss dividend income, or interrupt the long-term compounding of their portfolios. With this structure, listed securities are used as collateral for the loan, while investors can continue to benefit from their economic exposure. Once the financing is repaid, the pledged assets are released back to the customer.

The launch also fits into a broader pattern. Wio and ADX have been working for several years to digitize how UAE investors access capital markets. In 2023, Wio Bank signed an agreement with ADX to enable fully digital IPO subscriptions through its mobile banking app. That service allowed customers to create a National Investor Number digitally, apply for ADX IPOs, and even access leverage on IPO subscriptions.

In 2025, Wio Invest then expanded the wealth-building side of the platform through its collaboration with Lunate. Through that partnership, Wio became the first broker in the UAE to offer automated recurring orders for Lunate Chimera ETFs. Investors could automate weekly or monthly purchases of Chimera ETFs in UAE dirhams, helping them build diversified portfolios over time rather than investing only through one-off trades.

That ETF collaboration was especially important because Lunate’s Chimera ETF suite gives investors access to 17 UAE-listed ETFs, covering 10 stock markets and two fixed-income products. The range includes exposure to seven emerging equity markets, three developed equity markets, and fixed income, all through UAE-dirham-denominated instruments.

The latest loan-against-investments product adds a third layer to that journey. Wio is no longer only helping investors access IPOs or automate ETF purchases. It is now allowing them to use their existing portfolios as a source of liquidity.

For ADX, this supports a broader market-development goal. If investors can borrow against listed stocks and ETFs rather than sell them, portfolios become more flexible and listed securities become more useful within personal finance and wealth management.

The bigger story is that UAE investing is becoming more sophisticated. Investors are not just being offered more products to buy. They are being given tools to access IPOs, automate long-term investing, diversify through ETFs, manage liquidity, and stay invested while using their portfolios more efficiently.

If adoption grows, this could become another important step in turning the UAE’s capital markets into a more complete digital wealth ecosystem.