New alliance between global index provider and global Islamic Finance expert produces an enhanced set of index tools for Shariah-compliant investors.
Seattle, March 18, 2013 – Russell Indexes and IdealRatings today introduce the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic Index Series, a newly enhanced index series for Shariah investors. These new indexes benefit Shariah multi-asset investors by combining the deep experience and leading methodology of the Russell Global Indexes with the Shariah oversight of IdealRatings. Furthermore, they represent another way that Russell is demonstrating its more than 35 year commitment to helping investors in the Middle East with its unique mix of multi-asset investment consulting, investment management and fiduciary services and tools.
“We are excited to partner with IdealRatings to provide investors with a broad, fully modular global equity index that comprehensively reflects the Shariah-compliant opportunity set,” said Layla Hirschfelt, senior product manager with Russell Indexes. “By combining the deep index expertise and world class methodology of Russell Global Indexes with the highly respected oversight of IdealRatings, we believe we now offer a more compelling Shariah-compliant opportunity set to global multi-asset investors.”
IdealRatings applies its extensive experience in Shariah-compliant investing to the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic Index to ensure the exclusion of non-compliant businesses according to Shariah law. IdealRatings’ oversight includes specific sector- and financial-based filters. It also includes monitoring and approval by a respected board of Islamic scholars.
“IdealRatings is a highly trusted provider of accurate and timely Islamic Finance information and our services are used by some of the leading financial institutions worldwide,” said Mohamed Donia, CEO of IdealRatings, Inc. “We are now pleased to join forces with Russell Indexes to bring an enhanced offering to Shariah investors.”
The new Islamic Index Series is based on the Russell family of global indexes, recognized for its single market capitalization break across countries and objective, transparent and modular index design. The Series is fully modular and covers approximately 3,100 securities in 48 countries. The broadest market segments offered for the indexes include Global, Developed, MENA, ex-U.S., Developed ex-U.S., Emerging Markets, Europe, Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, Asia Pacific and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
For more information about the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic Index Series, including construction and methodology and information on the Russell-IdealRatings Islamic Index Board of Scholars, go to the Russell Indexes website.
About Russell Investments
Russell Investments (Russell) is a global asset manager and one of only a few firms that offer actively managed multi-asset portfolios and services that include advice, investments and implementation. Working with institutional investors, financial advisors and individuals, Russell’s core capabilities extend across capital markets insights, manager research, portfolio construction, portfolio implementation and indexes.
Russell has more than $162 billion in assets under management (as of 12/31/2012) and works with 2,400 institutional clients and more than 580 independent distribution partners globally. As a consultant to some of the largest pools of capital in the world, Russell has $2.4 trillion in assets under advisement (as of 6/30/12). It has four decades of experience researching and selecting investment managers and meets annually with more than 2,200 managers around the world. Russell traded more than $1.5 trillion in 2011 through its implementation services business. Russell calculates approximately 700,000 benchmarks daily covering 98% of the investable market globally, more than 80 countries and more than 10,000 securities. Approximately $3.9 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.
Russell is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, USA and has offices around the world including Amsterdam, Auckland, Beijing, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. For more information about how Russell helps to improve financial security for people, visit www.russell.com or follow @Russell_News.
About IdealRatings, Inc.
IdealRatings is a trusted provider of accurate and timely Islamic finance information. Their Shariah screening, purification, fund and index management services identify and manage Shariah compliant equities, funds and Sukuk globally. Many Islamic index providers, and financial institutions in 18 countries, rely on IdealRatings to create and manage their Islamic products.
