Iran’s first equities fund with forex hedging

Jam-e Jam Asset Management, established in 1983, has introduced an alternate investment solution seen as a first to aid locals hedge against the volatility of the Iranian rial – an ETF that began initial trading on the Iran Fara Bourse on the 16^th November 2025.

The Shariah compliant Ham-Arz – Export-Oriented Equity Fund with Foreign Currency Income ETF invests in a portfolio of Iran’s exporting firms which have significant foreign currency revenues, by selling their products at global prices and are protected from government-mandated pricing.

CEO Mohammad Hossein Asgari explained this investment strategy provides a natural hedging mechanism which is more transparent to investors and less subject to external influences, when compared to the holding of other assets like gold and foreign currency notes.

The former vice-president of market development at the Iran Energy Exchange explained that this ETF can also better channel investor capital toward domestic productive activities and manufacturing companies –  instead of directing liquidity away toward non-productive and speculative assets.

“As this ETF is designed so that revenue moves in tandem with exchange rate movements, investors’ purchasing power is preserved and it generates real, dollar-denominated returns over the long-term.”

Furthermore, this fund covers multiple sectors – including petrochemical, metal and mining, pharmaceutical, food, lubricants, refining and more – to reduce concentration risk in a single industry and thus provide for more stable returns.

Mohammad said such innovation is needed to better manage forex risks affecting the Iranian economy with inflationary pressures, describing how this ETF can be beneficial regardless of which way external forces apply.

“If sanctions intensify, exchange rates typically rise, increasing the rial value of companies’ foreign currency revenues and assets. Consequently, the shares of these companies appreciate, benefiting fund unit holders.

“Conversely, if sanctions ease, companies’ exports increase and the costs of circumventing restrictions are eliminated, resulting in higher operational and fundamental profits. In other words, the Ham-Arz ETF maintains a logical foundation for preserving and increasing value under both conditions.”

As an added mitigation factor, this currency-aligned fund can also invest in commodity deposit certificates for gold, silver and saffron – key commodities that many Iranians consider to be value-preservers – as well as foreign currency Murabahah securities, added Mohammad.

It is still early days yet for this ETF currency-hedging strategy, which recorded just 207 trades for 27.12 million ETF units on the first trading day – a relatively low volume for the units priced at IRR10,000 (US$0.24) each. But fund manager Jam-e Jam Asset Management said it is already planning to seek regulatory approval to double the fund’s maximum issue to 200 million ETF units.