Products April 25, 2007

S&P Unveils Shariah-Compliant Indexes

April 25, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Standard & Poor's has launched fully investable indexes for Muslim investors that include only stocks that comply with Shariah law.
Reported by

According to a press release , the S&P GCC Shariah Series for Muslim investors is designed to capture the largest and most liquid stocks across theCooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC).

“A lack of globally accepted benchmarks and other tailored investment tools is constraining the development of Shariah-related equity investing around the world,” said Alka Banerjee, vice president of S&P’s Index Services. “Together, these new S&P Shariah indices will provide Islamic investors and asset managers with a rigorous and consistent set of benchmarks and offer product providers the opportunity to develop structured products tailored to the Islamic market, while drawing on the liquidity and investability of S&P indices.”

The new indexes include the

  • S&P Saudi Shariah,
  • S&P Bahrain Shariah,
  • S&P Kuwait, Shariah,
  • S&P Oman Shariah,
  • S&P Qatar Shariah,
  • S&P United Arab Emirates Shariah,
  • S&P GCC Investable Shariah; and
  • S&P GCC Composite Shariah Index.

According to the press release, the indexes have been screened by Kuwait-based Ratings Intelligence Partners.

For more information on the S&P Shariah Indexes visit: www.globalindices.standardandpoors.com .

S&P’s announcement comes directly after MSCI Barra’s Indices statement that it would begin offering a similar product (See MSCI Barra To Release Shariah-compliant Global Equity Indices).       

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