Dharma indexes to track 'values' in stocks

After Shari'ah-based indices, which tracks stocks that comply with Islamic investment norms, here comes indexes for Hindu and Buddhist investors.
 
Global index provider Dow Jones Indexes and Dharma Investments, a private investment firm, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones Dharma Indexes measuring the performance of companies selected according to the value systems and principles of dharmic religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism.

The series includes the Dow Jones Dharma Global Index and four country Indexes for US, UK, Japan and India. The indices are designed to track financial products such as exchange-traded funds and other investable products that enable investors to participate in the performance of companies compliant with dharmic traditions.

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 capitalisation and all components in the Dow Jones Wilshire India Index. To be included in the Dharma indexes, stocks must pass a set of industry, enviromental, corporate governance and qualitative screens for dharma compliance. The stocks within the Indexes will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Worldwide, socially responsible investing (SRI), as it is known, has taken off in a big way with assets increasing from $639 billion in 1995 to $2.29 trillion in 2005. In the US, SRI assets represent over 10% of the total assets under management.