Following the regular rebalancing of its flagship ITS World index, the international trading venue ITS has increased the representation of Kazakh issuers from two to five companies. Starting February 10, 2026, the index includes securities of several major Kazakh companies, including:
- shares of the international holding Freedom Holding Corp. (ticker FRHC), listed on Nasdaq;
- securities of the country’s largest bank - Halyk Bank (HSBK.Y);
- shares of Kazakhstan’s national atomic company Kazatomprom (KAP.Y), one of the world’s largest producers of uranium.
At the same time, the ITS World index continues to include shares of leading Kazakh fintech platform Kaspi.kz (KSPI) and the national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG).
Chingiz Kanapyanov, CEO of ITS, emphasized that the foundation of the ITS World index is the idea of balanced diversification. Thanks to this approach, the index demonstrates resilience during periods of heightened volatility across different markets. According to him, the decision to increase the number of Kazakh securities in the index was driven by the previously insufficient representation of Kazakhstan in ITS World.
Chingiz Kanapyanov / CEO of ITS / photo by Freedom Finance
The ITS World index includes shares of 50 leading companies from America, Europe, and Asia. In many cases, its performance exceeds that of other global market benchmarks. For example, in 2025 ITS World grew by 25.62%, while the S&P 500 rose by 16.30% and the Dow Jones increased by 12.97%.
The ITS World exchange-traded fund (ITSW) was created based on the index. It was developed by ITS in partnership with asset management company IPS Capital and established under the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre.
Investments in the ITSW fund, which is denominated in US dollars, allow investors to allocate capital into a basket of 50 carefully selected stocks. To start investing, the entry threshold is just over 10 US dollars. Tax residents of Kazakhstan are exempt from paying income tax on returns generated from such investments.
According to Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., the increase in the number of Kazakh companies in the global ITS World index indicates that the country’s influence on the international stage is growing. The companies included in the index are among Kazakhstan’s largest and systemically important enterprises, setting the tone for the national economy.
Timur Turlov / photo by Valery Ayapov
Timur Turlov also noted that the inclusion of Freedom Holding Corp. shares in the ITS World index confirms the correctness of the company’s development strategy. This is supported by other achievements, including its presence in well-known global rankings and indices such as Russell 3000, inclusion in The Motley Fool’s Moneyball investment portfolio, and growing interest from major institutional investors such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan. In his view, this creates new diversification opportunities for investors, allowing them to combine the stability of developed markets with the potential of emerging jurisdictions.
Following the rebalancing, regional weights in ITS World remain unchanged: America accounts for 38%, Asia for 30%, Europe for 28%, and Kazakhstan for 4%. The index now includes 5 securities from Kazakhstan, 18 from America, 14 from Asia, and 13 from Europe.
Over the past year, the number of accounts in the Kazakh division of Freedom Finance has increased by nearly one-third. By the end of 2025, the total number of brokerage accounts at Freedom Finance and Freedom Finance JSC exceeded 330,000. In the first nine months of 2025 alone, more than 80,000 new accounts were opened. Overall, Freedom Finance’s brokerage business worldwide serves more than 800,000 accounts as of early 2026.
One of the notable achievements was the increase in daily trading volume on the ITS platform, where Freedom Kazakhstan Ltd is a major shareholder. Daily turnover exceeded 100 million US dollars. In the summer of 2025, monthly trading volume approached 1.5 billion US dollars, while the number of transactions reached 200,000.
At a board meeting, Timur Turlov emphasized Freedom Finance’s significant role in the development of Kazakhstan’s stock market. Freedom Finance was the first company to provide Kazakh investors with access to trading securities on international markets. When the Astana International Financial Centre was registered in the capital in 2015, Freedom Finance became the first company to join its economic zone.
Timur Turlov noted that the company entered the market at a time when it was still in its infancy. Freedom Finance laid the foundations of investment culture in the country, built the necessary infrastructure, defined its niche, and made a substantial contribution to the development of the investment environment.
About the ITS trading venue
ITS is a trading platform operating under the jurisdiction of the Astana International Financial Centre. It offers investors access to more than 3,200 global market instruments listed in the United States and Kazakhstan. Among ITS’s unique offerings are exchange-traded funds based on its proprietary indices and the opportunity to trade shares of companies before trading begins in New York for IPO-bound firms.
ITS
ITS achieved record results in 2025:
- total trading volume exceeded 14 billion US dollars, 70 times higher than in 2024;
- the number of investors with access to trading surpassed 1.2 million;
- 19 participants from six countries - Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Oman, and South Africa - operate on the platform.
ITS clients include professional securities market participants from Kazakhstan and other countries, including financial intermediaries accredited or registered in the AIFC. Retail and corporate investors can access trading through financial intermediaries - brokers and banks.
