Bursa Malaysia has become the latest bourse to express an interest in launching an Islamic index allowing investors to invest in companies adhering to Shariah principles, as international demand for Islamic Finance instruments grows.
In a keynote address at the Malaysian Islamic Finance - Issuers & Investors Forum 2006 last week, Malaysian deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin revealed that Bursa Malaysia is in discussions with an international index provider, reportedly FTSE, to develop and launch indices that would “give investment access and provide a benchmark to international investors".
More than 85% of the stocks listed on the Malaysian exchange are Shariah compliant, meaning that they are not involved in certain practices thought unethical, such as the arms trade, the selling of alcohol, gambling, the selling of pork-related products and the sale of conventional financial services.
Meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand has also announced its intention to tap into the growing appetite for Islamic investing with a new Islamic index.
Setaput Sutiwart-Narueput, an SET vice-president, has stated that the exchange would work with global index providers such as the Dow Jones, FTSE, Standard & Poor's and MSCI to launch a co-branded index. The SET plans to canvass index providers next month with a view to signing an agreement in September.
Another exchange which has recently launched Islamic style indexes is the Singapore Exchange (SGX) which in partnership with FTSE and Yasaar Research, launched the FTSE SGX Asia Shariah 100 Index last February. This index is made up of 100 Shariah-compliant stocks, from Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong.
Last month, Dow Jones Indexes announced its intention to expand its Islamic offering with the launch of a new index focusing on companies in certain emerging markets that comply with the criteria laid down for Islamic investment.
The Dow Jones Islamic Market BRIC Equal Weighted Index measures the performance of companies in the Brazilian, Russian, Indian and offshore Chinese markets that pass screens for compliance with Shariah law.
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