The Markets January 15, 2008

Social Investing Research Firm Puts Out Two Faith-Based Indexes

A Portland, Maine-based provider of environmental, social, and governance research, and consulting has released two new indexes aimed at faith-based investors.
Reported by

A news release from IW Financial said the IWF Catholic Values Index is comprised of companies that closely match the values defined in the Catholic Bishop’s Guidelines. The selection of the 150 companies that make up each index is based on IW Financial’s proprietary research and analytical technology.

The selection of index components excludes companies involved in pornography, contraception, military weapons, racial or gender discrimination, and abortion.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

The announcement said the criteria used for the Conservative Christian Values Index include a company’s good global human rights profile and its commitment to maintaining a generally positive workplace, among others. Companies were kept out based on their involvement in gambling, pornography, tobacco, alcohol, stem cell research, and abortion.

“Our indexes are designed to provide the basis for developing innovative investment strategies for the faith-based community,” said Craig Muska, Director at IW Financial, in the news release. “Our indexes offer a unique market opportunity to asset management firms, product sponsors and advisors who want to address this large and growing segment.”

According to the announcement, the IW Financial indexes are calculated by Standard & Poor’s and are market capitalization weighted.

Each is comprised of 10 sectors within the broad market, with the constituents selected to reflect the proportional contribution of that sector to the market as a whole. Large-cap companies make up 50% of the indexes, while small and mid-cap companies comprise the remainder.

More information is available at www.iwfinancial.com.

The Markets January 15, 2008

Dow Jones Indexes Teams for Dharmic Initiative

Investors looking for a new measure of socially responsive portfolios can now tap into one that purports to track the performance of companies that adhere to Dharmic principles.
Reported by

The Dow Jones Dharma Indexes is a result of the collaboration of Dow Jones Indexes and Dharma Investments, a private investment firm pioneering the development of faith-based investment. The new indexes measure the performance of companies selected according to the value systems and principles of Dharmic religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Dow Jones Dharma Index series includes the Dow Jones Dharma Global Index, as well as four country indexes for the U.S., the U.K., Japan and India. According to a press release, the indexes are designed to underlie financial products such as exchange-traded funds and other investable products that enable investors to participate in the performance of companies which are compliant with Dharmic religious traditions.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

The index universe for the Dow Jones Dharma Indexes is defined as the top 5,000 components of the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index as measured by float adjusted market capitalization, and all components in the Dow Jones Wilshire India Index. To be included in the Dow Jones Dharma Indexes, stocks must pass a set of industry, environmental, corporate governance and qualitative screens for Dharmic compliance.

Industry, Company Screens

Industry screens include unacceptable sectors and business practices. Environmental screens take account of a company’s impact or policies with respect to emissions, climate change and carbon footprint analysis, oil and chemical spills and waste management and recycling. Corporate Governance screens comprise the handling of labor relations/disputes/discrimination allegations, human rights violations, working conditions/wages.

Excluded from the index are companies from sectors that are deemed unacceptable due to the nature of their business activities and operations, including aerospace and defense, brewers, casinos and gaming, pharmaceuticals, tobacco. Also excluded are companies that have exposure to what are deemed unacceptable business practices, including alcohol, adult entertainment, animal testing and genetic modification of agricultural products.

«