Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that Tebyan Asset Management has licensed the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) CHIME Index to benchmark its new fund, the Tebyan CHIME Opportunities Fund, to be launched today.
The DJIM CHIME Index is designed to measure the performance of 100 leading stocks from China, India and the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region that pass rules-based screens for Shari’ah compliance.
Tebyan Asset Management Limited is a partnership between Gulf Mena and Qatar First Investment Bank, providing wealth and asset management services to the growing Islamic investment community.
As of January 13, 2012, the DJIM CHIME Index’s country allocation – determined by market capitalisation -- was: 47.61%, China; 29.44%, India; and the remainder to the MENA region (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco and the UAE).
“By focusing on a geographic area of increasing interest and then blending it with the Shari’ah-compliant methodology of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, we have identified a unique market niche,” said Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes. “Further, with our commitment to creating reliable, rules-based, market-measurement tools, Dow Jones Indexes continues to burnish its brand as a company responsive to the market and to product providers, such as Tebyan Asset Management.”
The index universe for the DJIM CHIME Index is defined by all stocks that pass Shari’ah screens, aiming to remove companies in the following lines of business: alcohol, tobacco, pork-related products, conventional financial services, defense/weapons and certain types of entertainment. Also excluded are companies with financial ratios that are incompatible with Islamic investment principles.
Once these sets of screens are passed, eligible stocks are derived from companies operating primarily in China, listed in Hong Kong and incorporated inside or outside of China; together with stocks primary listed in India and the MENA region. Eligible securities must also have an average daily trading volume of at least USD 500,000 over the last three months.
Stocks are selected by their market-capitalisation rankings, starting with the largest securities to achieve the following target-component numbers: 25 for China, 25 for India and 50 for MENA. The index is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalisation. The weight of each individual component is capped at 10% of the index.
Dow Jones Indexes was a pioneer in Islamic market indexing, launching its first Shari’ah-compliant index in 1999. Today, the firm offers thousands of Islamic market indexes, including regional, country, and sector gauges, as well as more specialized measures. A five-member independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board advises Dow Jones Indexes on the methodology of the DJIM Indexes.
In 2011, Dow Jones Indexes was named “Best Islamic Index Provider” by Islamic Business & Finance and Islamic Finance News; “Islamic Index Provider of the Year in Asia” by Asia Asset Management; and “Best Shari’ah Compliant Index Provider of the Year” by Global Finance.
