S&P Indices has announced the launch of the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index, an index designed to measure the performance of 50 leading Shariah-compliant companies from the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The index has been designed in partnership with the OIC.
Mr Ibrahim M Turhan, OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum Chairman, and Chairman & CEO of the İMKB.
Companies from all 19 countries and territories whose exchanges are members of the OIC Exchanges and are covered by S&P Indices are eligible for the index. These are: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index consists of the largest 50 stocks from the eligible universe. Stocks are selected in accordance with Shariah compliance screenings as determined by the S&P Shariah Indices Methodology.
In addition, stocks must have a minimum three-month average daily value traded of $1 million at each rebalancing reference date. To enhance portfolio diversification, at least one stock but no more than eight, from each country or territory must be included in the index.
Significant constituents currently include Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk PT from Indonesia, Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp and Saudi Basic Industries Corp from Saudi Arabia, Mobile Telecommunications Company from Kuwait, Sime Darby Bhd from Malaysia and Industries Qatar from Qatar.
Alka Banerjee, Vice President, Global Equity and Strategy Indices from S&P Indices commented: “We are pleased to partner with the OIC to create this new benchmark for Islamic countries. Demand for Shariah-compliant investing solutions and interest in the equity markets of Islamic countries have increased over the past several years. The S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah is unique in that it encapsulates in one index the performance of Shariah-compliant stocks from Islamic countries located throughout the world.”
Ibrahim M Turhan, OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum Chairman, and Chairman & CEO of the İMKB added: “I believe that the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index will fill a principal gap; since so far, there have been only a few measures to gauge the performance of Shariah-compliant companies. This new index is a product of the collective efforts of our colleagues in the OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum and S&P Indices, and I would like to express my gratitude to my associates for their valuable contributions. Through the S&P/OIC COMCEC 50 Shariah Index, we hope to contribute to the ever-increasing interest for Shariah-compliant companies while adding to the visibility of the stock exchanges of OIC countries. The index is also important in the sense that it will offer a benchmark for a variety of financial products such as ETFs and likewise.”
İstanbul Menkul Kıymetler Borsası (İMKB) is the coordinator of the OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum.
List of European listed Shariah-compliant equity ETFs:
iShares MSCI World Islamic ETF (ISWD)
London listed, TER 0.60%
iShares MSCI USA Islamic ETF (ISUS)
London listed, TER 0.50%
DB X-trackers DJ Islamic Market Titans 100 ETF (XIMT)
London, Xetra and Stuttgart listed, TER 0.50%
DB X-trackers S&P 500 Shariah ETF (XSHU)
London, Xetra and Stuttgart listed, TER 0.50%
DB X-trackers S&P Europe 350 Shariah Index ETF (XSHE)
London, Xetra and Stuttgart listed, TER 0.50%
DB X-trackers S&P Japan 500 Shariah ETF (XSHJ)
London, Xetra and Stuttgart listed, TER 0.50%