Adib rolls out capital-protected Islamic play

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib) has launched a new capital-protected structured note offering investors exposure to global Shari’ah-compliant stocks via the Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 index.

The bank said in a statement that the launch makes part of its growing wealth management offering to help investors in the region diversifying their portfolios. Adib also said that the pay-out of the product will be disclosed to investors at the point of sale.

The Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which includes the largest 100 Shari’ah-compliant stocks traded globally, has delivered an annualised return of 6% over the last 10 years, and just over 21% in 2013.

Stocks in the index are screened by an independent supervisory board to ensure they meet the Islamic investment criteria, including on ethical grounds and on levels of a company’s debt.

Currently, 26% of the index components are stocks from the technology sector, and a 25% weighting to the healthcare sector. Other industries represented include oil and gas, consumer goods and industrial companies. Geographically, 67% of the index is comprised by US listed companies, but the index also provides exposure to the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Korea.

This is the fourth structured note brought to market by Adib this year. The bank also said that a number of its structured investments including a three capital-protected gold notes and two capital-protected oil notes that matured at the beginning of 2013 delivered returns of between 1.21% and 17.9%.

The new note will be available for subscription until September 24. The minimum investment is $30,000.