ITS World Index expands with more Kazakh companies

The index currently includes five companies from Kazakhstan / Collage by Kursiv.media, photo editor: Serikzhan Kovlanbayev

The international trading platform ITS has completed the regular rebalancing of its flagship ITS World Index, increasing the number of Kazakh issuers in the index from two to five.

Who joined the top list?

The index basket, which tracks 50 of the world’s largest corporations, has added three new representatives from the domestic market:

Freedom Holding Corp., Timur Turlov’s international holding company listed on Nasdaq. Halyk Bank, the largest bank in Kazakhstan. Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s national atomic company and one of the world’s largest uranium producers.

The three companies have joined Kaspi.kz (KSPI), a leading Kazakh fintech platform, and the national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG), which are already included in the index. Despite the expanded list of names, Kazakhstan’s overall weight in the index remains fixed at 4%. The remaining portion of the index is distributed among the Americas (38%), Asia (30%) and Europe (28%).

Why do investors need this?

According to ITS CEO Chingiz Kanapyanov, the exchange decided to increase the number of Kazakh securities to address Kazakhstan’s limited representation in the index. Investments in the USD-denominated ITSW fund provide access to a basket of 50 specially selected stocks with a minimum entry threshold just above $10, while income from these investments is exempt from tax for Kazakhstan’s tax residents.

«Increasing the number of Kazakh companies in the global ITS World Index reflects the country’s growing importance in the global market. The constituents include the country’s largest and systemically important companies – leaders of the national economy. The inclusion of Freedom Holding Corp. underscores the effectiveness of the company’s strategic course, as evidenced by its presence in prestigious global rankings and indexes, including the Russell 3000 and The Motley Fool’s Moneyball investment portfolio, as well as by growing interest from leading institutional investors such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan. For investors, this expands diversification opportunities by combining the stability of developed markets with the potential of fast-growing jurisdictions,» said Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov.

Outperforming the market

The ITS World Index has historically delivered performance that outpaces many other global market benchmarks. In 2025, the ITS World Index rose by 25.62%, compared with gains of 16.30% for the S&P 500 and 12.97% for the Dow Jones.

ITS is a trading platform operating under the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). In 2025, ITS achieved record results: total trading volume exceeded $14 billion, 70 times the 2024 figure. More than 1.2 million investors already have access to trading.