Thomson Reuters has launched a Global Sukuk Index to monitor the $214 billion Shariah-compliant (Sukuk) fixed-income investment market.
The firm says the Islamic finance industry is growing at more than 15% per annum, led primarily by the Islamic debt capital market, which includes the Sukuk market. The new index attempts to bridge the challenge of asymmetry in the global Sukuk market, Thomson Reuters says.
Rushdi Siddiqui, global head of Islamic finance at Thomson Reuters, says the market has seen defaults, restructuring, maturing, rollovers, corporate issuers, the launch of Sukuk funds, secondary market platforms, innovative issuances, sovereigns declaring issuance and a growing development of the Islamic debt capital market.
The common denominator of need here is an independent benchmark, including independent pricing, to measure accountability and performance, Siddiqui says. We spoke to customers and listened to their feedback about Sukuk data collection, methodology and pricing. We quickly realized that there is a need for an independent entity such as Thomson Reuters to provide impartial data to inspire confidence and trust for investors.
Pricing is sourced from the Thomson Reuters EJV database. The new index is part of the firms Islamic index family strategy of equities and fixed income.
(CG)