S&P Adds Pan Asia to Shariah-Compliant Indexes

The new index will enable Islamic investors to benchmark their investment on a regional basis and give product providers the opportunity to develop structured products tailored to the Islamic market, the announcement said. S&P Pan Asia Shariah Index will draw stocks from nine Asian markets in the S&P Citigroup Global Equity Index – China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

The number of stocks for Shariah screening purposes is limited to the top 15 from each country that have a market capitalization of at least $1 billion. Each month a universe of stocks conforming to these criteria, selected once a year on March 31, is screened for Shariah compliance to form this index, according to the announcement.

The S&P Pan Asia Shariah Index has been launched with 71 companies with an adjusted market capitalization of $810.83 billion. Information technology companies represent approximately 35% of the index, followed by telecom services (17%), and energy (15%).

The S&P Global Shariah Index Series, introduced in April, so far includes Shariah-compliant versions of the S&P 500, the S&P Europe 350 and the S&P Japan 500, as well as the S&P GCC Middle East Shariah Index Series and the S&P BRIC Shariah Index (See S&P Continues Shariah-Compliant Course ). All S&P Shariah Index constituents are monitored on a daily basis to ensure that the indices maintain strict Shariah compliance.

All S&P Shariah Indices are screened by Ratings Intelligence Partners, a Kuwait-based consulting company specializing in the Islamic investment market. Ratings Intelligence Partners researchers interface directly with a dedicated Shariah Supervisory Board.

S&P Shariah Indices exclude businesses that offer products and services which are considered unacceptable or non-compliant according to Shariah law, such as advertising and media (newspapers are allowed, sub-industries are analyzed individually), alcohol, financials, gambling, pork, pornography, tobacco, and the trading of gold and silver as cash on a deferred basis.

More information can be found at www.globalindices.standardandpoors.com .