Dow Jones Indexes has been named the Best Islamic Index Provider of the year, according to a statement.

The index has announced that it has won in the “Best Islamic Index Provider” category of the inaugural Master of Islamic Finance Awards by Terrapin Ltd.

The award recognises the wide market acceptance of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index series and Dow Jones Indexes’ leadership and commitment to providing benchmarks for Shari’ah-compliant stocks and bonds, the index said.

“Since the launch of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes in 1999, we have been committed to providing the investment community with the most comprehensive and reliable index family for the Shari’ah-compliant space. Not only have we expanded the family by region, country, size and sector, but we have also launched the first index to track Islamic bonds as well as the first index to combine Islamic investment principles with sustainability criteria. Market participants can expect to see continued innovation in this area.” said Dow Jones Indexes president Michael A. Petronella.

Award winners were selected by a five-judge panel consisting of leaders in the Islamic finance industry. Dow Jones Indexes won Best Islamic Index Provider for being the first index provider to create an Islamic index family, which now includes more than 70 indexes. Furthermore, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes is the only Islamic index family with its own dedicated and independent supervisory board of Islamic scholars.

There are currently more than 60 licensees with more than $5 billion in assets benchmarked to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes. 

Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes seeks to measure the global universe of investable equities that pass screens for Shari’ah compliance. The DJIM Indexes combine Islamic investment principles with Dow Jones Indexes’ objective, transparent and rules-based methodology.

The index family includes more than 70 regional, country and industry indexes derived from the flagship Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index. In 2006 the index family expanded to include the Dow Jones Islamic Market Sustainability Index, which combines Islamic investing principles with sustainability criteria; Dow Jones Citigroup Sukuk Index, the first index to track Islamic bonds; and Dow Jones Islamic Market BRIC Equal Weighted Index, which tracks Shari’ah-compliant stocks in Brazil, Russia, India and China. Islamic blue-chip indexes for Sri Lanka, Dubai and China and Hong Kong were launched earlier this year.

A six-member supervisory board of Islamic scholars also counsels Dow Jones Indexes on the Shari’ah compliance of eligible stocks for the DJIM Indexes. – TradeArabia News Service