DOW JONES ISLAMIC MARKET INDEX WINS BEST SHARI'AH-COMPLIANT INDEX PROVIDER
Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index
provider, today announced that it has been named "Best Shari'ah-Compliant
Index Provider" by Global Finance magazine for the third consecutive year.
Global Finance's award for the World's Best Islamic Financial Institution
recognizes financial companies that make significant contributions to the
growth of Islamic finance and have successfully met their clients' needs for
Shari'ah-compliant products, while creating the foundation for continued
fast growth in the future.
"We are honored to receive this award for the third year in a row. The Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index series is one of our finest achievements in terms
of innovation, concept, design, and market acceptance. Our Islamic index
family continues to gain prominence as the global standard for measuring
Shari'ah-compliant equity investment," said Michael A. Petronella, president
designate, Dow Jones Indexes. "We are committed to continue providing
meaningful, new Islamic indexes in the years to come," he added.
Award winners were selected by the editors of Global Finance, after
extensive consultations with bankers, corporate finance executives and
analysts worldwide. Selection criteria included objective factors such as
growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships,
new business development and innovation in products, as well as subjective
feedback from Islamic finance analysts, consultants and other industry
participants.
In the past six years, the Dow Jones Islamic Market index series has won 20
industry awards by organizations, research institutions and magazines around
the world; among them are the International Islamic Finance Forum, the Kuala
Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum, the Islamic Center of Southern California,
Global Finance magazine, Islamic Business and Finance magazine, Islamic
Finance News and Incisive Media.
The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes were introduced in 1999 as the first
indexes intended to measure the global universe of investable equities that
pass screens for Shari'ah compliance. With more than 100 indexes, the series
is the most comprehensive family of Islamic market measures and includes
regional, country, and industry indexes, all of which are subsets of the Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index.
An independent Shari'ah Supervisory Board counsels Dow Jones Indexes on
matters related to the compliance of index-eligible companies. To determine
their eligibility for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, stocks are
screened based on their industry type and their financial ratios. Excluded
are companies engaged in the following lines of business: alcohol, tobacco,
pork-related products, financial services, defense/weapons and
entertainment. Also excluded are companies for which the following financial
ratios are 33% or more: debt divided by trailing 24-month average market
capitalization; cash plus interest-bearing securities divided by trailing
24-month average market capitalization; and accounts receivables divided by
trailing 24-month average market capitalization.
There are currently more than 150 licensees with more than US$7 billion in
assets benchmarked to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes.
For more information on the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, please visit
www.djindexes.com.
